Biografie

Wrote a pilot script in 1964 for an espionage series to star himself, but opted for Tennisschläger und Kanonen (1965) instead. He went on to write several episodes for Tennisschläger und Kanonen (1965), including the first episode.

He was a poker playing buddy of Hugh Hefner; as a result, he was a frequent guest at the Playboy Mansion.

It was widely reported that Culp would have replaced Larry Hagman as J.R. in Dallas (1978) had Hagman decided not to return to the series because of contract negotiations. However, Culp has stated that he was never asked to play the part of J.R. and was not contacted by anyone from Dallas (1978). At the time this took place, he was costarring as F.B.I. agent "Bill Maxwell" on ABC's The Greatest American Hero (1981). He loved the show and his role and has said that he would not have left the show even if the part had been offered to him.

Both he and his Tennisschläger und Kanonen (1965) co-star, Bill Cosby, were involved in civil rights causes and, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, the pair traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to join the striking garbage workers King had been organizing.

Along with Patrick McGoohan, Jack Cassidy, George Hamilton and William Shatner, he is one of only five actors to play two or more murderers in Columbo (1971): Investigator Brimmer in "Columbo - Mord mit der linken Hand" (1975) (1971), Paul Hanlon in Wenn der Eismann kommt (1972) and Dr. Bart Keppel in Ein gründlich motivierter Mord (1973).