Rod Colbin, who instructed actors from James Dean to Marlon Brando to Jimmy Durante how to handle a foil, died on Feb. 4, 2007, in Denver, CO, according to Variety. He was 83 and had suffered a series of strokes. A founding member of the Society of American Fight Directors, he taught many a movie and stage star how to conduct themselves in a duel. He himself displayed his skills in the stage shows Cyrano de Bergerac and his own show, Swordplay. He staged the duel seen in the 1969 Broadway production of John Osborne's A Patriot for Me.

As an actor, he appeared on Broadway in The Legend of Lizzie in 1959 and The Physicists in 1964. On television, he acted in numerous episodes of "Barney Miller," as well as "Three's Company," "Barney Miller," "The Jeffersons," "Charlie's Angels," "Quincy M.E." and "Little House on the Prairie."

He is survived by two daughters, two grandchildren and two sisters.