James McEachin dead: Legendary Columbo actor and Clint Eastwood co-star dies as fans pay tribute

Perry Mason star and Clint Eastwood's frequent co-star James McEachin has died aged 94. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor died in January and has been buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery since April.

The Columbo actor is best known for working on Clint Eastwood's many movies, including Bluff (1968), Play Misty for Me (1971), Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and Sudden Impact (1983). James also appeared in many TV series such as All in the Family, Tenafly, Dragnet, It Takes a Thief, The Name of the Game, Mannix, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O and Ironside. He also played Lt Ed Brock with Raymond Burr and Hal Holbrook between 1986 and 1995.

On Matlock, he took on the role of police lieutenant Frank Daniels on the first series. He also played FBI Agent David Shore on The Rockford Files with James Garner.

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James had guest roles on Police Story, Emergency!, Columbo, TJ Hooker, St Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote and Hill Street Blues. Not only was he an actor, he wrote several books.

Some of his titles included 1996's Tell Me a Tale: A Novel of the Old South, 1997’s Farewell to the Mockingbirds, 1999’s The Heroin Factor, 2000’s Say Goodnight to the Boys in Blue and 2021’s Swing Low My Sweet Chariot: The Ballad of Jimmy Mack, a memoir.

Before getting into acting, James served in the military. According to reports, he was one of only two survivors of the ambush of his unit in Korea and nearly died.

He didn't even know he received an award for his work until years later, when a California congressman searched his record and found his Silver Star.

He also got his Purple Heart then, too. When he came back to the USA, he spent time as a police officer and a fireman before getting into music producing.

Fans were devastated by the news and rushed to social media to send their condolences, with one saying: "Sorry to see that actor has passed. He was a prolific performer and also had a background in music.

"And he sort of brought both careers together in my favorite role of his, Clint Eastwood's fellow radio d.j. in "Play Misty for Me" (Eastwood's directing debut)."

" James McEachin. A real-life, decorated war hero, he was wonderful in his two ‘All in the Family’ guest spots, as private detective Harry Tenafly on one of those ‘NBC Mystery Movie’ shows and as Lt. Ed Brock in the Perry Mason telefilms," another posted.

His wife, Lois, with who he tied the knot in 1960, passed away in July 2017.

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