10 Celebrities You Didn't Realise Were On Columbo
5. Dick Van Dyke
If you don't know Dick Van Dyke as the cheeky cockney chimney sweep from Mary Poppins, you'll definitely know him as Mark Sloan, the lovable, crime-solving doctor from "Diagnosis: Murder".
It's a nice change then, to see a bearded Van Dyke take on a villainous role in "Negative Reaction", Season 4's second episode. This time, a photographer bumps off his wife simply because he finds her insufferable.
This episode has more than its fair share of comedic moments... but these jokes are usually at the expense of Columbo's dishevelled appearance (at one point he gets mistaken for a homeless person by a nun...) rather than playing to Van Dyke's apparent strengths.
His performance is actually quite menacing both physically and verbally, showing a real versatility to his acting ability that you don't normally get to see.