Happy birthday Michael Lally
The great Michael William Lally was born on June 1, 1900, in Manhattan, New York. As a kid he had four younger brothers, whom he led in street fights against rival kid gangs and supervised when he became a mini-tycoon who maintained a series of newspaper stands on each corner of his neighborhood
He's unmistakable to Columbo fans as his 26 appearances on the show is the most other than Peter Falk himself.
Lally had an interesting personal life. He met his wife, Pauline Wagner, at an RKO studio picnic when a prankster threw a lit firecracker down the boot of her cowgirl costume. Lally, trying to retrieve the firecracker, quickly reached into her boot but it went off and burned both of them.
Together with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Ronald Reagan, Lally helped organize the Actors' Guild in Hollywood.
He passed away on February 15, 1985, in Woodland Hills, CA. He left behind a legacy in the film industry and his son, Mike Edward Lally.
Keep your birthday greetings for John Randolph short...there might be an alert
Born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen on June 1, 1915, in New York City, his parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania. He made his Broadway debut in 1938 in Coriolanus.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Randolph was blacklisted from Hollywood due to his union and social activism. He and his wife, Sarah Cunningham, were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1955, but they refused to answer questions and cited the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Despite this setback, Randolph continued to work in theater, and in 1966, he was one of the last blacklisted actors to regain employment in Hollywood films when director John Frankenheimer cast him in a major role in Seconds.
Columbo fans are glad he got back into Hollywood because he turned in a delightful performance as the Air Force Colonel in season 3's Swan Song.
John Randolph passed away of natural causes on February 24, 2004.
Happy birthday Aubrey Morris
Born on June 1, 1926, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His birth name was Aubrey Steinberg, and he was one of nine children in a Jewish family with roots in Kyiv, Ukraine. Morris was well-known for his unique character roles in film and television, with a career that spanned over six decades.
He made his stage debut in 1944 at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London, performing in "The Winter's Tale." His early career included time at The Old Vic and appearances on Broadway between 1954 and 1956.
His filmography is extensive, with notable roles in "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) as P. R. Deltoid, "The Wicker Man" (1973), and "Love and Death" (1975) by Woody Allen. Morris also had a memorable part in "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" (1977) and appeared in various television programs, including "The Champions" (1968).
Columbo fans know him as Reverend Fred in Ashes to Ashes.
He passed away on July 15, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.
Happy birthday Antony Ponzini
Antony Ponzini had one Columbo appearance, as the Italian neighbor of the victim in Death Hits the Jackpot. That odd ensemble of neighbor folks didn't quite work for me but did give Columbo plenty of folks to interact with - and a chance to speak Italian.
Ponzini was born June 1st, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. He passed away on December 30th, 2002 at the young age of 69.
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