365 Days of Columbo: March 23rd

Happy birthday to Barbara Rhoades

Actress Barbara Rhoades gets a lot more attention from some Columbo fans than her two small roles would seem to warrant, but I guess the reasons are sort of obvious. She was born March 23rd, 1946 (though some sources say 1947) in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Most notably she was the amusement park photographer in Identity Crisis.

But did you know that before that she was a spa receptionist in season 1's Lady in Waiting? 

Happy Birthday Francis De Sales

Character actor Francis De Sales was born on March 23, 1912. Columbo fans will know him as Patterson in Double Exposure, the 1973 episode where Robert Culp’s murderous ad man Dr. Bart Kepple tries to outsmart the Lieutenant with a barrage of psychology, status, and smugness. 

Happy Birthday Kenneth Tobey

Born March 23, 1917, Kenneth Tobey made his Columbo appearance as the Police Commissioner in A Case of Immunity. It’s a small part in a very memorable episode, one that drops Columbo into a diplomatic maze and lets Peter Falk play the rumpled outsider against a setting full of protocol, privilege, and political insulation. 

Happy Birthday Alvin R. Friedman

Writer Alvin R. Friedman was born on March 23, 1934. For Columbo purposes, his key credit is Candidate for Crime, where he shares the writing credit on one of the series’ sharpest political entries. Jackie Cooper is terrific in that one, and the script gives Columbo a killer who is polished, ambitious, and deeply confident he can manage both the crime and the optics afterward. That combination always makes for good Columbo. 

Remembering Hal Mooney

March 23rd is also the date of Hal Mooney’s death in 1995. Mooney served as music supervisor on 27 episodes of Columbo between 1972 and 1976, which means his contribution runs through a huge chunk of the show’s classic era. He’s not one of the names casual viewers tend to mention first, but that behind-the-scenes consistency matters. Columbo’s atmosphere was never accidental.

Remembering Lola Albright

Actress Lola Albright, who played Clare Daley in Fade in to Murder, died on March 23, 2017. She’s excellent in that episode as the ex-wife who knows Ward Fowler far too well and has long since stopped being impressed by him. In a story packed with TV-industry vanity and performance, Albright brings a wonderfully dry, grounded energy to every scene she’s in.