67 Facts About Peter Falk

Peter Michael Falk was an American film and television actor.

Peter Falk is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running NBC series Columbo, for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

Peter Falk received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.

Peter Falk first starred as Columbo in two 2-hour "World Premiere" TV pilots; the first with Gene Barry in 1968 and the second with Lee Grant in 1971.

Peter Falk was the first actor to be nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy Award in the same year, achieving the feat twice.

Peter Falk went on to appear in such films as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Great Race, Anzio, Murder by Death, The Cheap Detective, The Brink's Job, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride, Wings of Desire, The Player, and Next, as well as many television guest roles.

Peter Falk wore an artificial eye for most of his life.

Peter Falk attended Ossining High School in Westchester County, New York, where he was a star athlete and president of his senior class.

Peter Falk then tried to join the armed services, as World War II was drawing to a close.

Peter Falk transferred to The New School for Social Research in New York City, which awarded him a bachelor's degree in literature and political science in 1951.

Peter Falk traveled in Europe and worked on a railroad in Yugoslavia for six months.

Peter Falk returned to New York, enrolling at Syracuse University, but he recalled in his 2006 memoir, Just One More Thing, that he was unsure what he wanted to do with his life for years after leaving high school.

Peter Falk obtained a Master of Public Administration degree at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in 1953.

The program was designed to train civil servants for the federal government, a career that Peter Falk said in his memoir he had "no interest in and no aptitude for".

Peter Falk applied for a job with the CIA, but he was rejected because of his membership in the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union while serving in the Merchant Marine, even though he was required to join and was not active in the union.

Peter Falk then became a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford.

Peter Falk studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut.

Peter Falk later recalled how he "lied his way" into the class, which was for professional actors.

Peter Falk drove down to Westport from Hartford every Wednesday, when the classes were held, and was usually late.

Peter Falk stayed with the Le Gallienne group for a few months more, and obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Galliene to an agent at the William Morris Agency in New York.

Later in 1956, Peter Falk made his Broadway debut, appearing in Alexander Ostrovsky's Diary of a Scoundrel.

Peter Falk continued to act in summer stock theater productions, including a staging of Arnold Schulman's A Hole in the Head, at the Colonie Summer Theatre in July 1962, which starred Priscilla Morrill.

In 1972, Peter Falk appeared in Broadway's The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

Peter Falk's performance in Murder, Inc was a turning point in his career.

Peter Falk was cast in the supporting role of killer Abe Reles in a film based on the real-life murder gang of that name that terrorized New York in the 1930s.

Mr Peter Falk, moving as if weary, looking at people out of the corners of his eyes and talking as if he had borrowed Marlon Brando's chewing gum, seems a travesty of a killer, until the water suddenly freezes in his eyes and he whips an icepick from his pocket and starts punching holes in someone's ribs.

Peter Falk, who played Reles again in the 1960 TV series The Witness, was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance in the film.

Peter Falk turned in a gem of a performance as one of two cabbies who falls victim to greed in the epic 1963 star-studded comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, although he only appears in the last fifth of the movie.

Peter Falk first appeared on television in 1957, in the dramatic anthology programs that later became known as the "Golden Age of Television".

Peter Falk often portrayed unsavory characters on television during the early 1960s.

Peter Falk starred in two of Alfred Hitchcock's television series, as a gangster terrified of death in a 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and as a homicidal evangelist in 1962's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

In 1961, Peter Falk was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in the episode "Cold Turkey" of James Whitmore's short-lived series The Law and Mr Jones on ABC.

In 1961, Peter Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year.

Peter Falk received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc and television program The Law and Mr Jones.

Peter Falk played the title role of "Gus", and Sands was his younger brother, Ethan Morgan.

Peter Falk's character, known for his catch-phrase Just one more thing, was a shabby and deceptively absent-minded police detective lieutenant driving a Peugeot 403, who had first appeared in the 1968 film Prescription: Murder.

Peter Falk would describe his role to film historian and author David Fantle:.

Peter Falk noted the idea for the character was "apparently inspired by Dostoyevsky's dogged police inspector, Porfiry Petrovich, in the novel Crime and Punishment".

Peter Falk tries to analyze the character and notes the correlation between his own personality and Columbo's:.

When Lew Wasserman said that Peter Falk is a perfectionist, I don't know whether it was out of affection or because he felt I was a monumental pain in the ass.

Peter Falk first played Columbo in Prescription: Murder, a 1968 TV movie, and the 1970 pilot for the series, Ransom for a Dead Man.

In 1989, the show returned on ABC in the form of a less frequent series of TV movies, still starring Peter Falk, airing until 2003.

Originally, it was not going to appear in the show because Peter Falk believed that it 'already had enough gimmicks' but once the two met, Falk stated that Dog 'was exactly the type of dog that Columbo would own,' so he was added to the show and made his first appearance in 1972's "Etude In Black".

Columbo's wardrobe was personally provided by Peter Falk; they were his own clothes, including the high-topped shoes and the shabby raincoat, which made its first appearance in Prescription: Murder.

Peter Falk felt it helped to make their confused and impatient reactions to Columbo's antics more genuine.

Peter Falk admitted that it was a melody he personally enjoyed and one day it became a part of his character.

Peter Falk won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Lieutenant Columbo in 1972,1975,1976 and 1990.

Peter Falk directed just one episode: the highly acclaimed "Blueprint for Murder" in 1971, although it is rumored that he and John Cassavetes were largely responsible for direction duties on "Etude in Black" in 1972.

Peter Falk was rumored to be earning $300,000 per episode when he returned for Season 6 of Columbo in 1976.

Peter Falk was a close friend of independent film director John Cassavetes and appeared in his films Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence, and, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night.

Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode "Etude in Black" in 1972; Peter Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in the 1976 film Mikey and Nicky.

In 1978, Peter Falk appeared on the comedy TV show The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, portraying his Columbo character, with Frank Sinatra the evening's victim.

Peter Falk continued to work in films, including his performance as an ex-CIA officer of questionable sanity in the comedy The In-Laws.

Peter Falk goes into his deadpan lecturer mode, slowly and patiently explaining things that sound like utter nonsense.

In Wings of Desire, Peter Falk played a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a famous American actor who had once been an angel, but who had grown disillusioned with only observing life on Earth and had in turn given up his immortality.

Peter Falk described the role as "the craziest thing that I've ever been offered", but he earned critical acclaim for his supporting performance in the film.

In 1998, Falk returned to the New York stage to star in an Off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Mr Peters' Connections.

Peter Falk married Alyce Mayo, whom he met when the two were students at Syracuse University, on April 17,1960.

Peter Falk was an accomplished artist, and in October 2006 he had an exhibition of his drawings at the Butler Institute of American Art.

Peter Falk took classes at the Art Students League of New York for many years.

Peter Falk was a chess aficionado and a spectator at the American Open in Santa Monica, California, in November 1972, and at the US Open in Pasadena, California, in August 1983.

In December 2008 it was reported that Peter Falk had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Dr Read said it was unclear whether Peter Falk's condition had worsened as a result of anesthesia or some other reaction to the operations.

Peter Falk's death was primarily caused by pneumonia, with complications of Alzheimer's being a secondary and underlying cause.

Peter Falk's daughters said they would remember his "wisdom and humor".

Peter Falk is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Peter Falk's death was marked by tributes from many film celebrities including Jonah Hill and Stephen Fry.