Rosanna Huffman
Quick Facts
Biography
Rosanna Huffman (August 12, 1938 – May 20, 2016) was an American actress and voiceover artist. Huffman's film credits as a voice actress included Oliver & Company in 1988, The Fabulous Baker Boys in 1989, FernGully: The Last Rainforest in 1992, and Babe in 1995. She also appeared in recurring roles in Murder, She Wrote, Hill Street Blues, and Murder One. Huffman was the widow of Richard Levinson, the co-creator of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, who died of a heart attack in 1987.
Huffman was born to Doras and Christine Huffman on August 12, 1938, in Timblane, Pennsylvania, a small coal mining town. She moved to New York in the 1960s and was quickly cast in a lead role in the 1965 Broadway production of Half a Sixpence.
She met her husband, Richard Levinson, while attending a party. The couple married in 1969 and moved to Los Angeles. Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, she won a lead role in a comedic musical called, Jane Heights.
Huffman guest starred in two episodes of Columbo during the 1970s, including an episode entitled "Suitable for Framing" in 1971, in which she played the partner of an art critic, portrayed by Ross Martin. She also appeared in seven episodes of Murder, She Wrote, another series created by Levinson, over the course of ten years. Additionally, she was cast in a recurring role on Hill Street Blues, in which she played the former wife of Joe Spano's character, Lt. Henry Goldblume. Her other television credits, spanning from the 1960s to the 2000s, included The Big Valley, Mission: Impossible, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, The Golden Girls, Family Ties, Cagney & Lacey and ER.
Rosanna Huffman died from pancreatic cancer at her home in Santa Monica, California, on May 20, 2016, at the age of 77. She was survived by her daughter, Chrissy, and two grandchildren.