365 Days of Columbo: January 10th

The premiere of Butterfly in Shades of Grey

Not one of my favorite episodes, if I'm honest, I often refer to this one as "Moustaches in Shades of Brown".  William Shatner's awful constantly changing stache made its debut on January 10th, 1994. Shatner plays sleezy conservative talk show host Fielding Chase who murders his former investigator because he was trying to help Chase's adopted daughter go out on her own.

Interesting note - this episode was directed by Dennis Dugan, who played "Mac" in Last Salute to the Commodore and co-starred Molly Hagan who also had a big part in Columbo: Murder, Smoke, and Shadows.

Sal Mineo's birthday

A young hearthrob with a troubled childhood, Mineo is best known to Columbo fans as Rachman Habib, the accomplice and second murder victim in Season 5's A Case of Immunity.

Mineo was born January 10th, 1939 in The Bronx, New York and was tragically stabbed to death in West Hollywood, California on February 12th, 1976 - not even 6 months after his Columbo episode aired. He was just 37 years old.

Harry Harvey's birthday

Harry Harvey had a small role in one Columbo - he played blaspheming venue manager at the beginning of Swan Song.

Harvey was born January 10th, 1901 in what is now Oklahoma, 6 years before it became a state.

Best known for The Pride of the Yankees and The Roy Rogers Show, Harvey had damned near 460 acting credits to his name.

He passed away November 27th, 1985 in Sylmar, CA.