Rue McClanahan, Vincent Price, Martin Sheen, Ian McShane, Jamie Lee Curtis, Little Richard, Kim Cattrall, Katey Sagal, Leslie Nielsen, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Julie Newmar are just a few of the famous faces to guest-star on "Columbo" — and none of them even played killers. Over the course of its run, "Columbo" saw a huge rotation of A-list guest stars, adding a level of cinematic pedigree to the show.
Rue McClanahan, famous for her portrayal of Blanche on "Golden Girls," plays a doomed Hollywood gossip columnist in "Ashes to Ashes." She meets her end at the hands of a glamorous Hollywood funeral director played by Patrick McGoohan, who made his name in "The Prisoner." McGoohan appreciated Falk's dedication to his own show. "Peter fought every inch of the way for quality," McGoohan told Dawidziak in "The Columbo Phile." In turn, Falk trusted McGoohan as a scene partner, and director, even asking him to rewrite entire "Columbo" scripts. As Falk later told AARP, "All of us are eternally indebted to Pat McGoohan...He's a wonderful writer. A genius. And a great, great Columbo villain!"
This kind of trust and collaboration among so many talented people is a huge part of why "Columbo" remained so successful for so long.
