365 Days of Columbo: July 10th

Happy Birthday John Francis

Actor John Francis was born July 10, 1923.

Francis made two credited appearances on Columbo. He played a waiter in the first-season episode Lady in Waiting and returned several years later as a bartender in Now You See Him.

John Francis between Peter Falk and Jack Cassidy in Now You See Him

He even has a couple of brief lines in Now You See Him, he interrupts Columbo and Santini to tell Santini that Michael Lally wants to talk to him. According to Lally's son that was a surprise to Lally and Falk set it up without telling him.

A few minutes later he's the one who confirms to Columbo that Santini does the trick at the same time every night.

Francis died December 10, 2001, in Willits, California. He was 78.