‘Columbo’ Aired Its Last Mystery 20 Years Ago: 13 Celebs Who Guest-Starred on the Series
Not many TV actors get to play a character for 35 years as Peter Falk did in Columbo, a crime drama in which he played the titular detective, never far away from his wrinkled raincoat or his Peugeot 403 car.
NBC aired the first of two Columbo pilots in 1968, then incorporated the show into its NBC Mystery Movie anthology between 1971 and 1978. Then, starting in 1989, ABC revived Columbo for two more seasons and more than a dozen TV specials. The last of those specials aired 20 years ago, on January 30, 2003.
Sadly, Falk died in 2011 before Universal Television could find a buyer for the planned 70th Columbo installment — fittingly titled “Columbo’s Last Case” — so we’ll never again hear the New York-born actor say, “Just one more thing…”
During the Columbo cases that made it to air, however, Falk shared the screen with many stars from stage and screen, including the big names below.
Johnny Cash
The “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line” performer took on a musical role on Columbo, playing gospel singer Tommy Brown in the 1974 episode “Swan Song.”
Kim Cattrall
In 1978, long before her Sex and the City days, Cattrall portrayed psychology student Joanne Nicholls in the episode “How to Dial a Murder.”
Tyne Daly
This Judging Amy alum played two characters on the show: murderous wife Dolores in 1992’s “A Bird in the Hand” and lady-of-the-night Dorothea McNally in 1994’s “Undercover.”
Blythe Danner
In 1972’s “Étude in Black,” this Huff and Will & Grace actress played jilted wife Janice Benedict… and she was pregnant with Gwyneth Paltrow at the time!
Faye Dunaway
The Oscar winner, known for her roles in the films Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, and Network, played Beverly Hills socialite Lauren Staton in the 1993 Columbo installment “It’s All in the Game.”
Héctor Elizondo
Some sort of cross-cultural casting decision led to this Chicago Hope alum being cast as Middle Eastern diplomat Hassan Salah in 1975’s “A Case of Immunity.”
Janet Leigh
A decade and a half after her star turn in Psycho, Leigh appeared in the 1975 Columbo episode “Forgotten Lady,” playing faded musical star Grace Wheeler Willis. (And her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis played a waitress in the 1977 episode “The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case.”)
Little Richard
The rock-and-roll singer behind “Tutti Frutti” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly” played himself in the 1991 episode “Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star.”
Rue McClanahan
After becoming an Emmy winner for her work on The Golden Girls, this actress played gossip journalist Verity Chandler in the 1998 installment “Ashes to Ashes.”
Ian McShane
Now known for his roles in Deadwood and American Gods, McShane played Leland St. John, a married man caught in an affair, in the 1990 Columbo episode “Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo.”
Matthew Rhys
Long before his days on The Americans and Perry Mason, this actor appeared in 2003’s “Columbo Likes the Nightlife” — the final Columbo special — playing murderous rave promoter Justin Price.
William Shatner
One of the original Star Trek stars, Shatner appeared in two Columbo episodes: 1976’s “Fade in to Murder,” as TV actor Ward Fowler, and 1994’s “Butterfly in Shades of Grey,” as talk show host Fielding Chase.
Martin Sheen
Before The West Wing and even before Apocalypse Now, Sheen played chemist Karl Lessing in the 1973 episode “Lovely but Lethal.”
