Hank Garrett, Actor & Author of From Harlem Hoodlum to Hollywood Heavy

From gun-toting kid to gun-toting cop to gun-toting TV cop., when you see Hank Garrett, you probably remember TV shows like Columbo and, of course, Car 54 Where are You or his brutal fight scene with Robert Redford in “Three Days of the Condor,” still considered one of the best fight scene of all time ... and actually sent him to the hospital. In his soon to be released memoir "From Harlem Hoodlum to Hollywood Heavy," details the unlikely journey from Harlem hoodlum to Hollywood heavy. Born into abject poverty at a time when poverty was measured in trips to the morgue, Hank Garrett was brought up in a Harlem cold water flat with two half-brothers and a wide array of pets: roaches, mice, rats, and whatever else could sneak into the walk-up tenement apartment furnished with dilapidated furniture and broken dreams.   Breakfast was stale bread and water. Other meals were less regular.  He had a love-hate relationship with his half-brothers: he loved them, they hated him.
        Life on the streets was tough. The only way to survive was to fight; at school, at home, hanging out on the stoop, or walking home from school.  One day when clowning with his pals on the way from school, one of his best friends collapsed right next to him. Hank thought he was kidding around. He wasn't. He was shot dead from an unknown sniper on a rooftop. It wasn't the first, or the last time, Hank would see death on those mean streets.