The Lt. Columbo Forum

An area where fans from all over can ask each other questions and voice their own ideas and opinions on anything Columbo.

This Forum is fondly dedicated in memory of  "cassavetes45"  (Carleen Zink),
Columbo's greatest fan and a great friend to us all.
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Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Findlay Crawford - Leonard Bernstein
Hugh Creighton - Johnny Cochrane (SP?)
Beau Williamson- Lorne Greene
Tommy Brown - Johnny Cash of course!!
Sgt.Wilson - Howdy Doody

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Doloros (from Bird-in-Hand) - Georgia Frontiere
Wade Anders - John Walsh
Fielding Chase - Rush Limbaugh

Actually, I think Hugh Creighton was more like Gerry Spence, although admittedly, his colleague with the big hit would also fit.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

These are all great.

Quid pro quo, I agree that Gerry Spence was used as a model in "Murder of a Rock Star," but I thonk you're right to suggest that he appears more as Creighton's lawyer (the one with the cowboy look), more than Creighton himself.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

I know nothing about chess, but even I know about the famous Bobby Fischer / Boris Spassky match. So I guess if Emmett Clayton is Fischer, then Tomlin Dudek is Spassky. The episode even came out the same year, or at least very close.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Just to get it mentioned here as well as the original thread. Viveca Scott = Arlene Dahl.

Dahl's resume in the beauty/cosmetics line was this (from mostly reliable though not always Wiki):

"She began writing a syndicated beauty column in 1952, and opened Arlene Dahl Enterprises in 1954, marketing cosmetics and designer lingerie......After closing her company in 1967, she began working as a vice president at ad agency Kenyon and Eckhardt that same year....Dahl moved to Sears Roebuck as director of beauty products in 1970, earning nearly $750,000 annually, but left in 1975 to found her short-lived fragrance company Dahlia."

Combine that with making Vera Miles wear an unnatural looking red wig (to match Dahl's color and style), and also having a beauty mark (which Dahl had too) and that cinches it.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

I forget the name of Carsini Wine’s rivals, but “They don’t make wine, they don’t even make good mouthwash!” I think that those brothers were the ones who were inspired by Ernest and Julio Gallo. Adrian Carsini would NEVER produce discount wine.

I’d also like to add:

Ward Fowler - Peter Falk
Joe Devlin - Luck Charms leprechaun

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Riley Greenleaf - William Hanley (real-life President of Greenleaf Publishing). Greenleaf published “trashy” books with smutty plots, suggestive covers, etc. Btw, above I meant to type the “Lucky Charms leprechaun”.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Also, namewise, there was the author Charles Greenleaf Bell, who was though, a good wonderful man and nothing like the Columbo character.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

The Columbo writers already poked fun at the young genius Stephen Spielberg (Spelberg) in Mind Over Mayhem, but I think the older Spielberg also got a nod as Alex Brady.

Max Barsini - Pablo Picasso (He was notorious with women)
Sean Brantley - Hugh Heffner

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

That's a great one - Hugh Hefner for Sean Brantley. Sean was about as cold of a murderer as it gets in the end.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Nicholas Frame and Lillian Stanhope - Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris - Richard Levinson and William Link.

Levinson said in Columbo Phile, "The fun we all had that this was Link and Levinson that this show was about: two mystery writers. Everyone would say, 'Which of you is the writer and which of you is the talker?' Of course it's not us literally but we thought it was a novel idea for a show. There was a constant string of Link and Levinson jokes during that show." The very names, "Franklin and Ferris" were meant to evoke the same alliterative ring.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

I heard that Jack Cassidy would quip "which one am I, Levinson or Link?" While filming Murder By the Book.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Re:

Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris - Richard Levinson and William Link.

I never thought about this, funny! Though I really know very little about Richard Levinson and William Link.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Has anyone made the connection between Dimond and Wheeler and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers?

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Astaire-Rogers is I'm sure the best generic connection in terms of a famous real-life dance team. Its easier to overlook that because of the distinctiveness of Ned and Grace and how other than the profession there aren't real life similarities to their counterparts (unlike the more blatant Viveca Scott-Arlene Dahl ones).

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

I know so little about football (during ANY year) that I wonder whether Eric Wagner was inspired by an actual heir to a football team, one who was criticized for paying too little attention to the game as opposed to "swinging" with the money. Maybe someone could answer that.

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Max Dyson - James Randi (Exposer of psychic frauds)

Re: Real-Life Inspirations For Characters

Billy Connolly,.MURDER WITH TOO MANY NOTES was based on Michael Kamen. He also looks just like him!

Alex Benedict is Leonard Bernstein/ Andre Previn