Bert Freed

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Bert Freed (November 3, 1919 — August 2, 1994) was the first actor to portray the detective "Columbo" on television; Freed was an American character actor who appeared in the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring in 1945 and dozens of television shows between 1947 and 1985. His most prominent role might be as the villainous Ryker in the television series Shane, in which Freed added a touch of realism by beginning the show clean-shaven and growing a beard from one week to the next, never shaving again through the season.

Freed played Columbo in a live 1960 episode of the "Chevy Mystery Theatre" seven years before Peter Falk played the role. Thomas Mitchell also played the part on stage prior to Falk's version, which is probably where many of the eccentric Columbo traits originated; only a few were visible in Freed's straightforward interpretation, although the character as played by Freed is recognizably Columbo.