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Val Avery (born 14 July 1924) is an American character actor who has added heft to hundreds of movies and television shows since the '50s.
Avery was born Sebouh Der Abrahamian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his early years he acted in plays with the Armenian Youth Federation. Some of the qualities he can bring to a performance, a down-on-his-luck appearance (highlighted by his pockmarked face) and an abrasive but vulnerable personality,[citation needed] were put to particularly good effect by the makers of the Columbo television series, starring Peter Falk, and by the film director, and Falk collaborator, John Cassavetes.
Avery portrayed a cat burglar who conspires with Lieutenant Columbo to catch another criminal, the deputy police commissioner, in A Friend in Deed (1974), directed by another Cassevetes collaborator, Ben Gazzara. According to a listing of Avery's credits in The Ultimate Columbo Site, he also appeared in Dead Weight (1971), The Most Crucial Game (1972) and Identity Crisis (1975).
Avery appeared Cassavetes' Too Late Blues (1961), Faces (1968), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Gloria (1980). Avery's other appearances have come in everything from films like The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and Donnie Brasco (1997) to TV shows like Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Munsters and Law & Order.
Avery was born Sebouh Der Abrahamian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his early years he acted in plays with the Armenian Youth Federation. Some of the qualities he can bring to a performance, a down-on-his-luck appearance (highlighted by his pockmarked face) and an abrasive but vulnerable personality,[citation needed] were put to particularly good effect by the makers of the Columbo television series, starring Peter Falk, and by the film director, and Falk collaborator, John Cassavetes.
Avery portrayed a cat burglar who conspires with Lieutenant Columbo to catch another criminal, the deputy police commissioner, in A Friend in Deed (1974), directed by another Cassevetes collaborator, Ben Gazzara. According to a listing of Avery's credits in The Ultimate Columbo Site, he also appeared in Dead Weight (1971), The Most Crucial Game (1972) and Identity Crisis (1975).
Avery appeared Cassavetes' Too Late Blues (1961), Faces (1968), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Gloria (1980). Avery's other appearances have come in everything from films like The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and Donnie Brasco (1997) to TV shows like Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Munsters and Law & Order.
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