Peter Falk

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Actor Peter Falk, whose portrayal of the perennially rumpled and lovable TV detective  “Columbo” won him four Emmy Awards, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday, June 23.  He was 84.
Tapped to play Lt. Frank Columbo when Bing Crosby turned down the role, Falk continued to portray the detective through its heyday in the 1970s, and then in a series of made-for-TV movies produced periodically until 2003. The iconic Columbo was known best for his ill-fitting raincoat, the stub of a cigar that dangled from his hand, and his inevitable slow turn before leaving an interview with a suspect to say “Just one more thing.” The show starring Falk became so popular that Time magazine featured the actor in character on its cover, describing Columbo as “conceivably the most influential, probably the best and certainly the most endearing cop on TV.”
During the course of his film, stage and TV career spanning nearly half a century, Falk received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1960 for his role as Abe “Kid Twist” Reles in the film “Murder, Inc.” His other films included: “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “Robin and the Seven Hoods,” “The Great Race,” “Luv” and “The Brinks Job.” He also appeared in a number of art-house favorites, including “Wings of Desire” and the semi-improvisational films “Husbands” and “A Woman Under the Influence,” directed by his friend, the actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes.
Born in Ossining, N.Y. to Eastern European parents, Falk wore a glass eye most of his life after losing his right eye to a tumor at the age of three. The glass eye prevented him from joining the armed services during World War II,  Instead,  he enlisted in the U.S. Merchant Marines.  Later, he signed up to go to Israel to fight Egypt in the War of Independence. By his own account, however, his actions did not indicate a strong connection to the Jewish state.
“I signed up to go to Israel to fight in the war with Egypt. I wasn’t passionate about Israel. I wasn’t passionate about Egypt. I just wanted more excitement,” he wrote in his 2006 autobiography “Just One More Thing.” “Joining the Israeli Army was illegal for American citizens, but I found out you could sign up at the Hotel Roosevelt in Manhattan. I did get assigned a ship and a departure date. However, the war was over in the blink of an eye – eight days to be exact. The ship never sailed.”
Falk received a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University after the war and worked for the state of Connecticut as an efficiency expert.
In 2007, following major dental surgery, he slipped into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.