TV's Columbo, Peter Falk, dead at 83 (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Peter Falk, the gravel-voiced US actor who played rumpled TV detective Columbo, has died aged 83, his family said.

Falk, whose portrayal of the disheveled, raincoat-wearing homicide detective made him a household name around the world and earned him several Emmy awards, died Thursday at his home.

"Peter Falk, 83 year-old Academy Award nominee and star of television series Columbo, died peacefully at his Beverly Hills home in the evening of June 23, 2011," said a statement issued by a family lawyer.

The cause of death was not given, but the actor had suffered from Alzheimer's in recent years, and his wife Shera was appointed to look after his affairs in 2009.

Falk had an impressive movie career including 1974's "A Woman Under the Influence," Wim Wenders's classic "Wings of Desire" in 1987 and "The Princess Bride" in the same year.

But it was as Columbo that he will be most remembered.

"Columbo" started as a TV movie in 1968 and was later made into a weekly series, in 1971. It quickly rose in the ratings to become one of the most popular shows on television, and won four Emmy awards over the years.

He played Lieutenant Columbo, a seemingly slow-witted Los Angeles detective who invariably succeeded in nabbing the criminal just minutes before the closing credits.

"Just one more thing," Columbo would say, resuming his questioning of the prime suspect who had been certain until that moment that he had failed to arouse the investigator's suspicion.

Part of Falk's loveable schtick as Columbo was the ever-present cigar that dangled from his fingers and his wrinkled raincoat, worn regardless of the weather, plucked from Falk's own bedroom closet.

Born in New York City on September 16, 1927, Falk was diagnosed at the age of three with cancer of the eye, he wrote in his 2006 book "Just One More Thing" -- named after his Columbo catchphrase.

After surgeons removed his right eye, Falk was fitted with a glass eye, which did not stop him from becoming a star athlete and being elected class president at school.

He even learned early in life to play his disability for laughs -- during a high school baseball game, Falk wrote, the umpire called him out at third base when he was certain he was safe.

"In front of everyone, I whipped out my eye and handed it to the umpire, (saying) 'You'll do better with this one.' Talk about getting a laugh. I got a roar. Even the guys on the other team were rolling in the grass," he wrote.

After high school, Falk joined the merchant marine and went to sea as a cook, but then went to college to study public administration.

He tried to get a job working for the CIA, but his membership in a labor union while a seaman -- seen as having the taint of possible communist affiliation -- torpedoed Falk's chances of getting work as a government spy.

Falk later found employment at the post office, and then as a bureaucrat with the Connecticut state government, doing a bit of regional theater and taking acting classes on the side.

Then in 1956, at the age of 29, he abruptly quit his day job and decided to move back to New York, declaring himself an actor.

The gamble paid off. Falk found quick on-stage success in a 1956 off-Broadway production of "The Iceman Cometh," playing opposite legendary actor Jason Robards.

But Hollywood was not so hospitable at first. A movie talent scout reportedly had wanted to recruit Falk, but the actor was rejected by the head of a major movie studio.

Undaunted, Falk moved in 1960 to Hollywood, where he received an Oscar nomination for his first role, in "Murder, Inc." He garnered another nomination for his second big screen role, in the 1961 film "Pocketful of Miracles."

Falk is survived by his wife of 34 years Shera and two daughters from a previous marriage.

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Peter Falk, TV's rumpled Columbo, has died (AP)

NEW YORK – The best way to celebrate Peter Falk's life is to savor how Columbo, his signature character, fortified our lives.

Thanks to Falk's affectionately genuine portrayal, Lt. Columbo established himself for all time as a champion of any viewer who ever felt less than graceful, elegant or well-spoken.

Falk died Thursday at age 83 in his Beverly Hills, Calif., home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson. But Columbo lives on as the shining ideal of anyone with a smudge on his tie, whose car isn't the sportiest, who often seems clueless, who gets dissed by fancy people.

As a police detective, Columbo's interview technique was famously disjointed, with his inevitable awkward afterthought ("Ahhh, there's just one more thing...") that tried the patience of his suspect as he was halfway out the door.

Columbo was underestimated, patronized or simply overlooked by nearly everyone he met — especially the culprit.

And yet Columbo, drawing on inner pluck for which only he (and an actor as skilled as Falk) could have accounted, always prevailed. Contrary to all evidence (that is, until he nailed the bad guy), Columbo always knew what he was doing.

Even more inspiring for viewers, he was unconcerned with how other people saw him. He seemed to be perfectly happy with himself, his life, his pet basset, Dog, his wheezing Peugeot, and his never-seen wife. A squat man chewing cigars in a rumpled raincoat, he stands tall among TV's most self-assured heroes.

What viewer won't take solace forever from the lessons Columbo taught us by his enduring example?

Columbo — he never had a first name — presented a refreshing contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

On another occasion, he described Columbo as "an ass-backwards Sherlock Holmes."

"As a person, he was like Columbo. He was exactly the same way: a great sense of humor, constantly forgetting things," said Charles Engel, an NBCUniversal executive who worked with Falk on "Columbo" and was his neighbor and longtime friend.

He remembered Falk as a "brilliant" actor and "an amazingly wonderful, crazy guy," and said a script was in place for a two-hour "Columbo" special, but Falk's illness made the project impossible. In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Somehow fittingly, Falk — the perfect choice to play Columbo — failed to be the first choice. Instead, the role was offered to easygoing crooner Bing Crosby. Fortunately, he turned it down.

With Falk in place, "Columbo" began its run in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.

NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.

Columbo's trademark: an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Falk was already an experienced Broadway actor and two-time Oscar nominee when he began playing Columbo. And, long before then, he had demonstrated a bit of Columbo-worthy spunk: at 3, he had one eye removed because of cancer.

Then, when he was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him, "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye." And after failing a screen test at Columbia Pictures, he was told by studio boss Harry Cohn that "for the same price I can get an actor with two eyes."

But Falk prevailed, even before "Columbo," picking up back-to-back Oscar nominations as best supporting actor for the 1960 mob drama "Murder, Inc." and Frank Capra's last film, the 1961 comedy-drama "Pocketful of Miracles."

Paying tribute, actor-comedian Michael McKean said, "Peter Falk's assault on conventional stardom went like this: You're not conventionally handsome, you're missing an eye and you have a speech impediment. Should you become a movie star? Peter's correct answer: Absolutely.

"I got to hang with him a few times and later worked a day with him on a forgettable TV movie," McKean went on, calling Falk "a sweet, sharp and funny man with a great soul. Wim Wenders called it correctly in `Wings of Desire': He was an angel if there ever was one on Earth."

"There is literally nobody you could compare him to. He was a completely unique actor," said Rob Reiner, who directed Falk in "The Princess Bride."

"His personality was really what drew people to him. ... He had this great sense of humor and this great natural quality nobody could come close to," Reiner said. Falk's work with Alan Arkin in "The In-Laws" represents "one of the most brilliant comedy pairings we've seen on screen."

Peter Michael Falk was born in 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store.

After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, Falk worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut.

He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva Le Gallienne.

An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other parts, among them Josef Stalin in Paddy Chayefsky's 1964 "The Passion of Josef D." In 1971, Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," Tony-nominated for best play.

Falk made his film debut in 1958 with "Wind Across the Everglades" and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in "Murder, Inc."

Among his other movies: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Robin and the Seven Hoods," "The Great Race," "Luv," "Castle Keep," "The Cheap Detective" and "The Brinks Job."

Falk also appeared in a number of art-house favorites, including "Wings of Desire" (in which he played himself as a former angel), and the semi-improvisational films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence," directed by his friend John Cassavetes.

"Today we lost someone who is very special and dear to my heart. Not only a wonderful actor but a very great friend," said Gena Rowlands, who co-starred with Falk in the latter film, and was married to the late Cassavetes.

Falk became prominent in television movies, beginning with his first Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes" in 1961. His four other Emmys were for "Columbo."

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960; they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, and divorced in 1976. The following year he married actress Shera Danese. They filed for divorce twice and reconciled each time.

When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.

He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."

Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.

___

Associated Press Television Writers Lynn Elber and David Bauder, Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney and former writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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TV's Columbo, Peter Falk, dead at 83 (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Peter Falk, the gravel-voiced US actor who played Hollywood's rumpled detective Lieutenant Columbo, has died at 83, family members told US media Friday.

Falk, whose portrayal of the disheveled, trenchcoat-wearing homicide detective made him a household name around the world, died Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills, they said.

In the hit TV show he played a seemingly slow-witted Los Angeles detective who invariably succeeded in nabbing the criminal just minutes before the closing credits.

The veteran actor also had considerable success on stage and on the big screen, scoring a couple of Oscar nominations among the more than 40 Hollywood movies in which he appeared.

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Peter Falk, TV's rumpled Columbo, has died (AP)

By ANTHONY MCCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 5 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in "Columbo," which spanned 30 years in prime-time television and established one of the most iconic characters in movie police work, has died. He was 83.

Falk died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson.

In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"Columbo" began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.

Columbo — he never had a first name — presented a contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.

Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. "When something like that happens early," he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, "you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him, "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye." Falk would later win two Oscar nominations ("Murder, Inc.," 1960; "Pocketful of Miracles," 1961) and collect five Emmys.

After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut. He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva La Gallienne.

An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other classical parts, notably as Joseph Stalin in "The Passion of Joseph D." In 1971 Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

Falk made his film debut in 1958 with "Wind Across the Everglades" and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in "Murder, Inc." Among his other movies: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Robin and the Seven Hoods," "The Great Race," "Luv," "Castle Keep," "The Cheap Detective," "The Brinks Job," "The In-Laws," "The Princess Bride."

Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence," directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," in which he played himself. Falk became prominent in television movies, beginning with his first Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes" in 1961. His four other Emmys were for "Columbo."

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960; they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, and divorced in 1976. The following year he married actress Shera Danese. They filed for divorce twice and reconciled each time.

When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.

He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."

Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.

___

Former Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report.

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"Columbo" actor Peter Falk dead at 83 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Peter Falk, an Emmy winning actor who played the absent-minded but smart police detective Columbo on hit 1970's television show "Columbo," has died, a family attorney said on Friday.

"Peter Falk, 83 year-old Academy Award nominee and star of television series, Columbo, died peacefully at his Beverly Hills home in the evening of June 23, 2011," said a statement issued by the attorney.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte and Alex Dobuzinskis, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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