Happy Birthday Dennis Dugan
Actor and director Dennis Dugan was born September 5, 1946, in Wheaton, Illinois.
Columbo fans will recognize Dugan as Sergeant Theodore “Mac” Albinsky, the enthusiastic young detective assigned to tag along with the Lieutenant in Last Salute to the Commodore.
Dugan later returned to Columbo, this time behind the camera. He directed the 1994 episode Butterfly in Shades of Grey, which brought William Shatner back to the series as radio personality Fielding Chase.
Away from Columbo, Dugan became much better known as a comedy director, eventually helming movies including Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Beverly Hills Ninja and Grown Ups.
Remembering Leo Penn
Director Leo Penn died September 5, 1998, at the age of 77.
Penn directed just one Columbo episode, but he certainly made it count: Any Old Port in a Storm, starring Donald Pleasence as wine connoisseur and murderer Adrian Carsini. The episode originally aired October 7, 1973.
Penn had a long television directing career, but Any Old Port remains a particularly distinguished entry on his résumé—and one of the episodes most closely associated with the classic era of Columbo.
Not a bad contribution for a man who only occupied the Columbo director’s chair once.
Remembering Ed McCready
Character actor Ed McCready also died on September 5, passing away in Los Angeles in 2002 at the age of 72.
McCready was one of those familiar faces who helped populate the Columbo universe without ever demanding much attention for himself. He can be spotted as a Tri-Con security guard in An Exercise in Fatality, and he returned during the ABC years in small roles including the plainclothesman in Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo and the security guard in Death Hits the Jackpot.
He continued turning up in later episodes as well, the sort of dependable character actor whose face may be considerably more familiar to longtime viewers than his name.
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