Bert Freed

Known For	Acting
Birthday	Nov 03, 1919
Died	Aug 02, 1994 (74)
Birthplace	The Bronx, New York USA
Popularity	0.9 (history)
Updated	Dec 19, 2024 (Update)
Entry Date	Apr 13, 2024
Links	TMDb IMDb

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bert Freed (November 3, 1919 — August 2, 1994) was a prolific American character actor, voice over actor, and the first actor to portray "Detective Columbo" on television. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, Freed began acting while attending Penn Stat ... e University, and made his Broadway debut in 1942. Following World War II Army service in the European Theatre, he appeared in the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring in 1945 and dozens of television shows between 1947 and 1985. His film debut occurred, oddly enough, in a musical Carnegie Hall (1947). A prominent role was as the villainous Ryker in the television series Shane, in which Freed added a unique 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. He appeared (sometimes more than once) in television shows such as The Rifleman, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley,The Virginian, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Charlie's Angels, Then Came Bronson, Run For Your Life, Get Smart, The Lucy Show, Hogan's Heroes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Combat!, Petticoat Junction, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Ironside, The Green Hornet, The Munsters, and many, many more. He directed one episode of T.H.E. Cat. Freed appeared as a racist club owner in No Way Out (1950), a gangster in Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950), a Marine private in Halls of Montezuma (1951 film), an Army sergeant in Take the High Ground! (1953), the Police Chief in Invaders From Mars (1953), Sgt. Boulanger in Paths of Glory (1957), the hangman in Hang 'Em High (1968), Max's father in Wild in the Streets (1968), as Chief of Detectives in Madigan (1968), a homosexual prison guard in There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and Bernard's father in Billy Jack (1971) in which he got "whumped" on the side of the face by Billy Jack's right foot "just for the hell of it." He retired from acting in 1986, and died of a heart attack in Canada in 1994 while on a fishing trip with his son. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bert Freed, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Headshots

Filmography

Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase

1981

as Carlo

Skag

1980

as Bishop

Norma Rae

1979

as Sam Dakin

Till Death

1978

as Dr. Sawyer

Barracuda

1978

as Jack

In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan

1977

as Dr. Julius Korein

Love and the Midnight Auto Supply

1977

as Mayor John Randolph

Death Scream

1975

as Det. Ross

Incident at Vichy

1973

as Marchand, A Businessman

Evel Knievel

1971

as Doc Kincaid

Billy Jack

1971

as Mr. Stuart Posner

Breakout

1970

as Fletcher

There Was a Crooked Man...

1970

as Skinner

The Andersonville Trial

1970

as Board of Military Judges

Then Came Bronson

1969

as Editor Carson

Wild in the Streets

1968

as Max Jacob Flatow Sr.

Madigan

1968

as Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch

P.J.

1968

as Police Lieutenant

Hang 'em High

1968

as Schmidt

The Swinger

1966

as Police Captain

Nevada Smith

1966

as Quince

Invitation to a Gunfighter

1964

as Sheriff

Shock Treatment

1964

as Frank Josephson

Fate Is the Hunter

1964

as Dillon

Twilight of Honor

1963

as Sheriff Buck Wheeler

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

1962

as Ben Golden

Why Must I Die

1960

as Adler

The Gazebo

1960

as Lt. Jenkins

The Subterraneans

1960

as Bartender

The Goddess

1958

as Lester Brackman

The Plot to Kill Stalin

1958

as Sokolovsky

Paths of Glory

1957

as Sgt. Boulanger

Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers

1956

as Dayton Colonel

The Desperate Hours

1955

as Tom Winston

The Cobweb

1955

as Abe Irwin

The Strike

1954

as Chick

The Long, Long Trailer

1954

as Foreman

Men of the Fighting Lady

1954

as Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski

Tangier Incident

1953

as Kozad

Invaders from Mars

1953

as Police Chief A.C. Barrows

Take the High Ground!

1953

as Sgt. Vince Opperman

The Atomic City

1952

as Emil Jablons

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

1952

as American Soldier (uncredited)

Red Mountain

1951

as Sgt. Randall

The Company She Keeps

1951

as Smitty

Halls of Montezuma

1951

as Slattery

Detective Story

1951

as Det. Dakis

Where the Sidewalk Ends

1950

as Det. Sgt. Paul Klein

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

1950

as Dutch (Third New York Henchman)

Key to the City

1950

as Emmy's Husband

711 Ocean Drive

1950

as Steve Marshak (uncredited)

No Way Out

1950

as Rocky Miller (uncredited)

Boomerang!

1947

as Herron, a Man in Alley Mob

No data available

Organization	Category	Movie

Shane

as Rufe Ryker

Episodes: 15

First Aired: Sep 10, 1966

Lincoln

as Edwin Stanton

Episodes: 6

First Aired: Sep 06, 1974

Mission: Impossible

as Leon Chandler

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Apr 05, 1968

Cain's Hundred

as Dave Reed

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 19, 1961

Knight Rider

as Anthony Solan

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 26, 1982

Petticoat Junction

as Detective Horton

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1963

Charlie's Angels

as Stambler

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1976

Gunsmoke

as Al Clovis

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1955

Perry Mason

as Ken Woodman

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Studio One

as Chick

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Combat!

as Sgt. Weber

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1962

General Electric Theater

as Mitch Green

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 01, 1953

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Pete Johnson

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Dec 24, 1951

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

as Capt. Akins

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1974

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Capt. Harvey Ellison

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1955

Run for Your Life

as Sheriff Parsons

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1965

The High Chaparral

as Telford Burris

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1967

The Millionaire

as M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 19, 1955

The Virginian

as Milo Henderson

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 19, 1962

The Big Valley

as Judge Ben Coulter

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1965

Adventures in Paradise

as Michael Dannora

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1959

The Philco Television Playhouse

as Al Rago

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 03, 1948

Decoy

as Lieutenant Rosenberg

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 14, 1957

Mr. Novak

as Lorimer

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1963

Law of the Plainsman

as Benson

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 01, 1959

Riverboat

as Kester

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1959

Dr. Kildare

as Dr. Donald White

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 27, 1961

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

as Lieutenant

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1959

The Green Hornet

as Police Sgt. Bert Clark

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 09, 1966

Hogan's Heroes

as Maj. Bernsdorf

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 17, 1965

Dr. Kildare

as Director

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 27, 1961

The Big Valley

as Henry Marvin

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1965

The Big Valley

as Homer Roberts

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1965

The Virginian

as Jason Ainsworth

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 19, 1962

Gunsmoke

as Chris Thornton

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1955

The Outer Limits

as Joe Hayden

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 16, 1963

General Electric Theater

as Armstrong

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 01, 1953

The Lucy Show

as Miller

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 01, 1962

The Chevy Mystery Show

as Lt. Columbo

Episodes: 1

First Aired: May 29, 1960

Perry Mason

as Harry Parker

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Perry Mason

as Carl Holman

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Perry Mason

as Joe Marshall

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Cooper

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1955

Studio One

as Malone

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Studio One

as Mike Jannis

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Studio One

as Lt. Burke

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Mission: Impossible

as Gen. Brenner

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 05, 1968

Barnaby Jones

as Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 28, 1973

The Streets of San Francisco

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 23, 1972

Cannon

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 14, 1971

Johnny Staccato

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 10, 1959

Ironside

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Mar 28, 1967

The Rifleman

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 30, 1958

Ben Casey

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Oct 02, 1961

77 Sunset Strip

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1958

The Rookies

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 11, 1972

Bourbon Street Beat

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1959

The Munsters

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1964

Route 66

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1960

Mannix

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 16, 1967

The Mod Squad

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1968

Arrest and Trial

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1963

Get Smart

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1965

The Fall Guy

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 04, 1981

Target: The Corruptors!

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 29, 1961

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 06, 1958

Vega$

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1978

Police Story

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 20, 1973

Lancer

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1968

Peter Gunn

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1958

McCloud

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 17, 1970

The Thin Man

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1957

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 04, 1963

The Loner

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1965

Tarzan

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 08, 1966

The Sixth Sense

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 15, 1972

The Dakotas

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 07, 1963

The Guns of Will Sonnett

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 08, 1967

The Detectives

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 16, 1959

Tightrope

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 08, 1959

Paper Moon

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 12, 1974

The Outsider

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1968

Bronk

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 17, 1975

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 29, 1959

The Philco Television Playhouse

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 03, 1948

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History

Year	Month	Avg	Max	Min
2024	6	13	20	9
2024	7	22	33	12
2024	8	13	30	5
2024	9	12	19	5
2024	10	6	12	4
2024	11	6	11	2
2024	12	7	11	3
2025	1	8	13	3
2025	2	5	10	1
2025	3	5	9	1
2025	5	1	2	1
2025	6	1	1	1
2025	7	0	0	0
2025	8	1	1	0

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Bert Freed

Biography

Known For

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Filmography

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