Happy Birthday Val Avery
Prolific character actor Val Avery was born July 14, 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Avery appeared in four Columbo episodes, playing a different working-class character each time:
- Harry Barnes, the boat shop owner in Dead Weight
- Ralph Dobbs, the private investigator in The Most Crucial Game
- Artie Jessup, the “Bel Air Burglar” in A Friend in Deed
- Louie, the bartender at Sinbad’s in Identity Crisis
Of the four, Artie Jessup is unquestionably the standout. Commissioner Halperin attempts to frame Jessup for a murder by planting stolen jewelry in his apartment—but Columbo has already anticipated the move and traps the corrupt commissioner.
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Avery's association with Peter Falk also extended beyond the series. Avery appeared in several films directed by Falk’s friend and frequent collaborator John Cassavetes, including Too Late Blues, Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Gloria.
Avery accumulated more than 160 film and television credits during his career. He died December 12, 2009, at the age of 85.
Remembering Hugh Gillin
Actor Hugh Gillin was born July 14, 1925.
Gillin made one credited Columbo appearance, playing the priest at the funeral in the 1990 episode Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo.
The funeral is part of Columbo's elaborate illusion to goad Vivian into confessing to Charlie's murder.
It's one of the revival era’s most unusual sequences, briefly asking viewers to entertain the possibility that the famously unseen Mrs. Columbo might actually be gone.
Gillin was also recognizable as Sheriff John Hunt in Psycho II and Psycho III. His other television credits included Gunsmoke, The Rockford Files, Dallas, Murder, She Wrote and Matlock.
He died May 4, 2004, at the age of 78.
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