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1924—2009 · four parts, one of them pivotal

Val Avery

A face from hundreds of American films and series: cops, hoods, bartenders, working men. Val Avery appeared in Columbo four times, and in A Friend in Deed played one of the most memorable supporting parts — Artie Jessup, the burglar someone tries to frame for murder.

Parts in Columbo

Four parts

Harry Barnes in Dead Weight, Ralph Dobbs in The Most Crucial Game and Ralph Dobbs again in Identity Crisis — the character name repeats, though the stories have nothing to do with each other. The key part is Artie Jessup in A Friend in Deed: a small-time thief the deputy police commissioner casts as the murderer.

A Friend in Deed is built from the Cassavetes circle: Ben Gazzara directed it, and Avery and John Finnegan are both in it. Avery appeared in five Cassavetes films, from Too Late Blues to Gloria.

Beyond Columbo

Born Sebouh Der Abrahamian in Philadelphia to an Armenian family, he served in the Army Air Forces during the war. Over fifty years he made more than a hundred films and three hundred television episodes: The Magnificent Seven, Hud, Papillon, Donnie Brasco, The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables. He also worked on Broadway.

Facts

• Four Columbo parts between 1971 and 1975.
• Played a character named Ralph Dobbs twice, in two unrelated episodes.
• Artie Jessup in A Friend in Deed — the thief someone tries to turn into a murderer.
• More than three hundred television episodes over his career.

Questions

More familiar faces

Cast data from TMDB. Biographical details from open reference sources.