10 Famous Directors Who Made Columbo Episodes
6. Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara is an American film and television actor with a long career spanning nearly 60 years. You might not know his name but you've probably seen him in something.
He earned early acclaim on the Broadway stage in the '50s with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, on television in the '60s with Run For Your Life and later appeared in cult films Road House, The Big Lebowski and Dogville in the '80s, '90s and '00s.
Before directing Columbo episodes "Troubled Waters" and "A Friend in Deed" (Season 3 / 4) Gazzara had previously worked with Peter Falk on John Cassavetes' Husbands, a polarising comedy-drama about three friends in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Falk and Cassavetes would later join forces once again on the Columbo episode "Etude in Black".
Gazzara's episodes are both up there with the very best Columbo has to offer: "A Friend in Deed" in particular is an extremely dark and tense affair feeling almost like a feature film in its execution with lots of on-location shooting and some actual proper action sequences.