Being a childhood product of the '60s, I SPY was one of my favorite shows. But like many, I find my thoughts turning to Bob's enjoyable villainous turns on several 1970s episodes of COLUMBO.
I was fortunate to meet him a few times over the past several years, at various celebrity/collector shows. A very friendly guy, who went out of his way to talk to you and learn a little about you. The 2nd time I saw him was at Chiller Theatre in NJ. Strangely, his table wasn't busy, and when I asked him if he had any COLUMBO pics for signing (he didn't), we wound up spending about 10 minutes talking about his work on that show.
He told me a great story about a COLUMBO scene with him trying to golf, while the Lt. asks him questions. Just before shooting the scene, Falk told Culp that he planned to improvise, and to work along with him. Culp said that his character's on-screen agitation was not just the character, but himself, the actor, trying to keep up with Falk. Funny stuff, especially the way Bob told it... I wish I had a videocam with me.
RIP
BOB AND CAROL AND TED AND ALICE (1969) - clip
[youtube=425,350]yjL_gd7Yk20[/youtube]
I SPY (1965) - First episode (embedding disabled)
THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO (1981) - opening titles
[youtube=425,350]0_ZUSQQdoS4[/youtube]