A journalism graduate of George Washington University, Dawidziak has worked as a theater, film and television critic since 1979.
[3] Dawidziak has written two non-fiction books about TV characters: The Columbo Phile: A Casebook (The Mysterious Press, 1989),[4] a history of Peter Falk's Lt. Columbo, and The Night Stalker Companion: A 30th Anniversary Tribute (Pomegranate Press, 1997), a history of the Carl Kolchak character played by Darren McGavin in two TV movies and the 1974-75 ABC series.
Titled Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler,[8] it was published by Kent State University Press in 2011 with a foreword by Ken Burns.
[12] The company's artistic director, he frequently appears in Largely Literary productions as Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.
[13] Dawidziak is currently teaching part-time as an adjunct professor at Kent State University, in addition to writing for The Plain Dealer.