Since I've never heard back from Dene Kernohan and I suspect his Dawidziak sequel is now dead, here's the piece I wrote for him on Murder Under Glass as my tribute to Jourdan.

Murder Under Glass
Of the many future A-listers who cut their creative teeth on Columbo, Steven Spielberg is the series’ valedictorian. The class salutatorian had to be Jonathan Demme, a mid-‘70s student of exploitation cinema under the likes of prolific B-movie king Roger Corman.
Murder Under Glass (1978) could be seen as a turning point for Demme as the director transitioned from drive-in fare such as Black Mama, White Mama to box office/critical hits including Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. Ironic, considering Murder Under Glass itself attempted to cash in on another culinary black comedy, Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, released in 1978 with George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset.
In the film, the continent’s premiere chefs are being murdered in a manner that echoes their signature dishes (a lobster chef drowns, the master of baked pigeon found fully browned). In Murder Under Glass, Demme expertly assembles the top chefs of L.A., who are being extorted by renowned restaurant critic Paul Gerard, a sophisticated sleaze who devours free meals and protection payments. Columbo’s seventh season boasted star turns by Ruth Gordon, Nicol Williamson, Clive Revill, and Trish Van Devere (the victim of a jumbled story that attempted unsuccessfully to parody the film satire Network). Louis Jourdan, a French film idol who’d starred in Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case (1947), was an inspired choice for Gerard, serving tasty Hollywood ham with blue-nosed condescension and a reptilian gaze.
Act I concludes with the demise of Vittorio Rossi (Michael V. Gazzo), an Italian chef supremo who no longer can stomach Gerard’s blackmail. After Gerard regretfully leaves Rossi’s kitchen mid-entrée, Rossi collapses, poisoned by a bottle of wine he himself had uncorked. Gerard is quickly recalled to the restaurant, where he is greeted by the hulking Sgt. Burke and ushered to an audience with the Good Lieutenant, who’s already tucked into a late supper prepared by Rossi’s man Albert. In the latter-day Columbo tradition, the slovenly sleuth is clearly someone to reckon with, though Gerard is too much the snob to grasp the threat and is taken in by Columbo’s effusive foodie fanboyism.
This is an episode to enjoy within reach of the fridge. As he explores the impossible crime Gerard’s so meticulously concocted, Columbo is treated to gourmet mushrooms, dim sum, and other delights provided by the Friends of Rossi. Demme revels in a banquet of comedic mystery, delivering scrumptious set pieces such as Columbo’s bilingual interrogation of Rossi’s disconsolate Italian waiter, a disrupted graveside ceremony, Columbo’s flirtation with a courtly geisha and near-collision with the murder “weapon” during a Japanese feast, Columbo and Gerard’s fencing at a produce market, and a grand, masterfully orchestrated climax at a restaurateurs banquet, where our sleuth pledges to avenge the Great Rossi.
The final mano-a-mano showdown between Columbo and his adversary, played out during the lieutenant’s preparation of a tasty scallopini, is a suspenseful comedy gem highlighting the characters’ mutual admiration and contempt. A definite high point in the series’ NBC run: If The Conspirators was a final after-dinner whisky for the faithful viewer, Murder Under Glass was the wickedly sinful dessert.
And what an international buffet of guest stars, from Jourdan and Gazzo to French-Vietnamese movie sensation France Nuyen, Japanese-born superstar Mako (who delights in Columbo’s detectival ramblings), and the delightful Shera Danese (AKA, Mrs. Peter Falk), whose Eve Plummer proves more than a match for the suave Gerard. Demme took top ingredients and whipped up a witty masterpiece for discerning mystery fans. One wonders how his appetite for macabre humor and culinary decadence influenced his later direction of elegant cannibal Hannibal Lecter – something indeed to chew on.

Great review, Martin! As my tribute to Jourdan last night I watched "Murder Under Glass" first followed by his Bond villain turn in "Octo*****". When to 007's disgust he coolly eats a repelling entrée of "stuffed sheep's head" I was immediately thinking Jourdan must have been channeling Paul Gerard for that scene!

RIP.

LOL. Next up, Swamp Monster.

Always enjoyed watching Jourdan. Interesting man- even joined the French resistance to fight the Nazis!

He was good in 'Murder Under Glass' but I don't like Falk's performance in it. In fact, I see some of the character traits in Columbo in this episode that the revival series would have him exhibit every week. Columbo seems slower, more childlike, annoying and a lot less sharp.

Still, Jourdan was good and will be missed by many.

By the way, Eric, I meant Swamp Thing, one of the earliest more obscure DC Comics-based series. Jourdan was the recurring villain, who menaced the big pile of swamp moss who was the show's hero.

One of his smaller claims to fame would be those Canada Dry (?) sparkling water commercials. The idea that one of the most popular French celebrities in this country would be endorsing Canada Dry instead of Perrier was the whole idea of the campaign.

He might have been one of my favorite Culumbo villains. He had such style and grace. Truly one of my favorite episodes.