Two Detectives, One Very Busy Casting Office
Columbo and Jessica Fletcher never officially teamed up, which feels almost rude considering how many suspicious characters they shared.
Richard Levinson and William Link co-created both Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, while Peter S. Fischer wrote for and served as story editor on Columbo before becoming the third co-creator of Jessica’s series.
These shows were basically sharing creative DNA—and apparently one very busy Hollywood address book.
Robert Culp
Most viewers already knew Robert Culp as secret agent Kelly Robinson on I Spy, but he practically had a reserved parking space at Columbo. He played the guilty party three times, then returned in “Columbo Goes to College.” Years later, he entered Jessica Fletcher’s world as cosmetics-company co-owner Norman Amberson during the show’s eighth season.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Leslie Nielsen
Before Airplane! and The Naked Gun turned Leslie Nielsen into the king of deadpan comedy, he spent decades playing serious leading men. He appeared in the Columbo episodes “Lady in Waiting” and “Identity Crisis,” then joined Angela Lansbury’s mystery series twice as two different seafaring characters. Apparently, the man simply could not stay away from suspicious boats.
Screenshot from Murder, She Wrote, NBCUniversal (1984-1996)
Janet Leigh
Long before Jessica Fletcher entered her orbit, Janet Leigh had already taken one of cinema’s most famous showers in Psycho. She gave Columbo one of its saddest and most memorable opponents as fading star Grace Wheeler Willis in “Forgotten Lady,” then played formidable hotel owner Cornelia Montaigne during Jessica’s third season.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Martin Landau
Viewers knew Martin Landau from Mission: Impossible and Space: 1999, while later audiences watched him win an Oscar for Ed Wood. Columbo cast him as suspicious twins Dexter and Norman Paris in “Double Shock.” He later played unpleasant nightclub owner Al Drake in an early first-season Jessica Fletcher case.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Vera Miles
Vera Miles was already familiar from The Searchers and as Janet Leigh’s determined sister in Psycho. She faced Columbo as cosmetics executive Viveca Scott in “Lovely but Lethal,” then appeared three times opposite Angela Lansbury, including as the prison warden in “Jessica Behind Bars.” Jessica could not even visit jail without finding a case.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Rue McClanahan
Best remembered as Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, Rue McClanahan appeared during Jessica’s first season as passenger Miriam Radford in the famous storm-bound bus episode. Years later, she became gossip columnist Verity Chandler in the Columbo movie “Ashes to Ashes.” Blanche would have found somewhere much more enjoyable to be.
Screenshot from Murder, She Wrote, NBCUniversal (1984-1996)
Robert Vaughn
Robert Vaughn was already television royalty thanks to Napoleon Solo on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He experienced both sides of a Columbo investigation, playing the man behind the crime in “Troubled Waters” and the doomed Charles Clay in “Last Salute to the Commodore.” He also entered Jessica Fletcher’s world several times in different roles.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Roddy McDowall
After growing up onscreen and becoming inseparable from the original Planet of the Apes movies, Roddy McDowall played chemistry genius Roger Stanford in the Columbo episode “Short Fuse.” He later became author Gordon Fairchild, bringing a book about witchcraft to Cabot Cove. That town really did not need anyone giving it fresh ideas.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Gene Barry
Gene Barry was already known as Bat Masterson, Amos Burke on Burke’s Law and the hero of The War of the Worlds when he became Columbo’s first televised opponent. He played polished psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming in the original 1968 pilot, then appeared opposite Angela Lansbury as wealthy patriarch Henry Reynard during the fifth season.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee spent years as the impeccably dressed John Steed on The Avengers, so casting him as a wonderfully proper ship captain in the Columbo episode “Troubled Waters” felt about right. He later appeared twice in Jessica’s series, including one episode that gave viewers two Angela Lansburys for the price of one.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Anne Francis
Anne Francis had starred in the science-fiction classic Forbidden Planet and led her own detective series, Honey West, before appearing in “Short Fuse” and “A Stitch in Crime.” She was also in Jessica Fletcher’s feature-length pilot and later played restaurant owner Margo Perry in “Keep the Home Fries Burning.” Even breakfast became evidence around Jessica.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
José Ferrer
José Ferrer had won an Oscar for playing Cyrano de Bergerac long before he met either television detective. He played research institute director Dr. Marshall Cahill in “Mind Over Mayhem,” the Columbo episode with scientific rivalry and a very 70s robot. He later became flamboyant hypnotist Cagliostro in a first-season Jessica Fletcher case.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Eddie Albert
Anyone who watched Green Acres knew Eddie Albert as Oliver Wendell Douglas, the lawyer who voluntarily moved to Hooterville and immediately regretted it. On Columbo, he became decorated retired general Martin Hollister in “Dead Weight.” He later appeared during Jessica’s fourth season in a story where politics, wealth and Angela Lansbury collided.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar had earned an Oscar nomination for The Collector before appearing as Vivian Brandt during the sixth season of Columbo and later playing costume designer Marta Quintessa in Jessica Fletcher’s first season. Her character helped Jessica get onto the set of a disastrous movie adaptation of her book.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Mariette Hartley
Mariette Hartley appeared in two strong Columbo episodes, “Publish or Perish” and “Try and Catch Me,” playing publishing-world characters both times. She later joined Jessica in “Night of the Coyote,” set in an Old West tourist town filled with buried treasure, family secrets and a suspicious ending. Compared with that, Cabot Cove almost looked peaceful.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
Pat Crowley
Pat Crowley had been a familiar movie and television face since the 50s when she played Lenore Kennicut, the blackmail target whose death launches “Death Lends a Hand.” She later appeared during Jessica’s third season as Trudy Howard, alongside Buddy Hackett, Steve Lawrence and a young George Clooney before anyone knew he was George Clooney.
unknown (NBC), Wikimedia Commons
Ron Masak
Ron Masak played two unrelated characters in Jessica Fletcher’s series before becoming Sheriff Mort Metzger, the Cabot Cove lawman who spent years watching Jessica solve his cases. He eventually entered Columbo’s world as cabdriver Eddie Fenelle in “Ashes to Ashes.” He finally escaped Cabot Cove, only to run into another detective.
Screenshot from Murder, She Wrote, NBCUniversal (1984-1996)
William Windom Was There Almost From the Beginning
William Windom appeared in the original 1968 Columbo pilot, then returned in “Short Fuse.” He was also an Emmy-winning star of My World and Welcome to It, but Angela Lansbury fans remember him best as Dr. Seth Hazlitt, Jessica’s cranky, loyal friend who somehow survived Cabot Cove’s astonishing mortality rate.
Screenshot from Murder, She Wrote, NBCUniversal (1984-1996)
Case Closed
A calculating Columbo adversary could return as Jessica’s old friend, someone marked for an unfortunate ending could come back as a suspect, and Leslie Nielsen could command two different ships without anyone checking his references. Classic mystery television understood one important rule: never waste a good guest star.
Screenshot from Columbo, NBCUniversal (1968-2003)
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