Writer and TV producer William Link, best known for co-creating TV shows like Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen and Murder, She Wrote passed away on December 27th of congestive heart failure. He turned 87 earlier this month.
Link met his collaborator Richard Levinson when they attended junior high school in Philadelphia. Together, Link and Levinson would write radio and TV scripts. By the late 1950's, their story "Chain of Command" had appeared on Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. In the 1960's, Levinson and Link co-wrote stories for TV shows like Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Dr. Kildare; Burke's Law and The Fugitive.
In 1967, Levinson and Link would create their first hit TV show Mannix starring Mike Connors. The following year saw the TV debut of Peter Falk as the beloved Lt. Columbo in the TV movie Prescription: Murder. The two had actually developed the Columbo character years earlier and featured him in the teleplay "Enough Rope" in The Chevy Mystery Show with character actor Bert Freed as the lieutenant. Prescription: Murder had also been a stage play in 1962 featuring Thomas Mitchell (who one might remember as Uncle Billy from It's a Wonderful Life) as Columbo.
Given that Columbo had been played by Freed and Mitchell, Levinson and Link wanted an older actor to play him in the TV movie. The pair had Bing Crosby in mind, but he wisely turned it down. Casting Falk was the best decision Levinson and Link ever made. Columbo added another TV movie in 1971 before becoming a fixture on NBC during most of the 1970's and was revived on ABC sporadically between 1989 and 2003. Columbo has been praised for being a comfort to people during the pandemic.
During the mid-1970's, Link and Levinson adapted Ellery Queen for a short-lived TV series starring Jim Hutton. In the 1980's, Link and Levinson collaborated Peter S. Fischer on the long running TV mystery Murder, She Wrote starring Angela Lansbury. Levinson died suddenly in 1986 leaving Link to carry on.
I leave you with Link discussing how Peter Falk was cast as the lovable Lieutenant. R.I.P.
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