Peter Falk, an accomplished stage, screen, and television actor, best known for his role as Columbo, has passed away at 83.
He served in the Merchant Marine during the war and later recieved a graduate degree in public administration before becoming an actor.
Columbo began in 1971 appearing every third week in rotation with two other 90-minute series (the cowboy sheriff in New York series McCloud and Rock Hudson’s police mystery MacMillan and Wife) and ended in 1977.
He returned to the role 1989 in a series of two-hour TV films that ran about twice a year.
The last of the 68 films was done in 2003.
He made old raincoats, beat-up Peugeot convertibles and basset hounds stylish. “And one more thing…”
RIP
By: DazDaMan - 25th June 2011 at 21:28
A great shame.
By: Sky High - 25th June 2011 at 20:16
A great character. I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit many years ago but he certainly gave the Colombo production team the runaround in demanding the perfection he believed in.
By: Arabella-Cox - 25th June 2011 at 20:11
RIP Lieutenant!
“Oh, there is just one more thing, Mr Brown…”
By: Creaking Door - 25th June 2011 at 11:11
I have fond memories from when I was young of watching Columbo with my father and wondering why he laughed so much.
I think Peter Falk was a largely unrecognised talent because of the success of his TV work. I didn’t know he had a glass eye.
By: pagen01 - 25th June 2011 at 10:10
Sad to hear of his passing, Columbo was always on TV during the afternoons when I was growing up, in fact it felt like it was made over more years than it was. It was certainly a lot more down to earth than Quincy ME and the likes!
RIP
By: Moggy C - 25th June 2011 at 10:07
To me though he will always remain Max, Professor Fate’s useless assistant from The Great Race.
“Push the button Max”
Moggy
By: J Boyle - 25th June 2011 at 04:50
I would have never mistaken his car for a Nash..the Nash was often compared to an inverted bathtub. I don’t think they look alike at all, but some people do get rather weird ideas when it comes to autos.
His convertible was very rare in the US, I’ve read there were only a handful. There weren’t many Peugeots, but even fewer DHCs.
And his raincoat was a popular American brand..London Fog, which I’m told has no relation to the UK.
By: Flying-A - 25th June 2011 at 02:36
His car was a 1959 Peugeot 403 convertible (some accounts say a 1960). Although over a million 403s of all types were built, only about 2000 were convertibles and about a quarter of those were ’59 models. Columbo’s car was often mistaken for a Nash Rambler, understandable since both were styled by Pininfarina.
The raincoat came from Falk’s own closet. He bought around 1967 for a fishing trip and wore it until it essentially fell apart.
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June 24, 2011 at 8:03 pm