Val Avery, Tough-Guy Actor in Movies, dies 85

Val Avery (July 14, 1924 - December 12, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows since the 1950s. In a career that spanned 50 years, Avery appeared in over 100 films and had appearances in over 300 television series.

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. 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) The Wanderers (1979) and Donnie Brasco (1997) to TV shows like Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Munsters and Law & Order.

Death of Val Avery
Avery died Saturday December 12, 2009 in his Greenwich Village home. He was 85.