Background
Freed, Bert was born on November 3, 1919 in New York City. Son of Ely and Hannah (Fried) Freed.
Freed, Bert was born on November 3, 1919 in New York City. Son of Ely and Hannah (Fried) Freed.
Bachelor of Science, Pennsylvania State University, 1940.
Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Freed began acting while attending Penn State University, and made his Broadway debut in 1942. Following World World War II Army service in the European theatre, he appeared in the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring in 1945 and dozens of television shows between 1947 and 1985. His film debut occurred, oddly enough, in a musical Carnegie Hall (1947).
A prominent role was as the villainous Ryker in the television series Shane, in which Freed added a unique touch of realism by beginning the show clean-shaven and growing a beard from one week to the next, never shaving again through the season.
Freed played Columbo in a live 1960 television episode of the "Chevy Mystery Theatre" seven years before Peter Falk played the role, and also before Thomas Mitchell portrayed the eccentric police detective on stage prior to the Falk version. He made four guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Ken Woodman in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee".
Murder victim Joe Marshall in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Ruinous Road". And Carl Holman, whose wife is the murderer in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Poison Pen-Pal." He made 16 appearances as Rufe Ryker in the television series Shane in 1966.
He appeared (sometimes more than once) in many other television shows such as The Rifleman, Laramie, Bonanza, High Chaparral, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, The Virginian, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Charlie"s Angels, Then Came Bronson, Run Foreign Your Life, Get Smart, The Lucy Show, Hogan"s Heroes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Doctor Kildare, Ben Casey, Combat!, Petticoat Junction, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Ironside, The Green Hornet, The Munsters, The Untouchables, and many others
He directed one episode of T.H.E. Cat. Freed appeared as a racist club owner in, Private Slattery in, the Police Chief in, Sergeant Boulanger in, the hangman in, Max"s father in, as Chief of Detectives in, a homosexual prison guard in and Bernard"s father in in which he got "whumped" on the side of the face by Billy Jack"s right foot "just for the hell of lieutenant".
President Brentwood Democratic Club, 1968-1969. Treasurer Theatre Authority West, 1983-1994. Chairman American Federation television and Radio Artists/SAG Federal Credit Union, 1978-1994.
Member Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (member executive committee foreign films 1978-1994), Screen Actors Guild (vice president 1975-1977, director 1968-1989, chair Special Research Student committee 1987-1994, trustee producers pension and health).
Married Nancy Lee Wurzburger, February 12, 1956. Children: Carl Robert, Jennifer.