Peter Falk, 83, who created one of TV's greatest detectives, died Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years. A family representative said he died in his sleep.
Mr. Falk won four Emmys for the title role in Columbo, which was one of three rotating NBC Sunday mystery movies from 1971 to '77. Eleven years after it ended, he reprised the role with new films for ABC.
They may never have heard Lt. Columbo's first name, but fans around the world thought of him as a friend. In his rumpled raincoat and baggy brown suit, he spoke in a voice that no cough-drop manufacturer would ever sponsor, inspiring the contempt of all the villains he encountered.
Every rich and snotty one of them thought the squinting and shambling Columbo was a boob, and spent almost all of each episode putting him down - until he snapped on the cuffs just in time for the closing credits.
Mr. Falk appeared in nearly 50 feature films and worked on the stage. But for millions of viewers, he will always be Columbo, driving a wheezing 1959 Peugeot, lighting a cheap cigar, and interrupting his exit from a mansion to rattle a suspect with, "Oh, just one more thing."
Sometime afterwards Columbia Studios chief Harry Cohn is said to have rejected him for a part declaring: “For the same money, I can get an actor with two eyes!”
But it was for his role as Columbo in the 70s that Falk will be best remembered. In the end, sadly, he did not even remember the cult show that made him a household name.
He won four Emmys and a Golden Globe as the persistent Los Angleles lieutenant whose catchphrase whenever he turned to go was, “Just one more thing...”
The popular whodunit-style drama has been shown for more than 30 years in 40 countries – with possibly a record number of repeats.
Mirror film reviewer David Edwards last night described Columbo as “the 20th Century’s most memorable TV detective”.
And British comedian Steve Furst tweeted: “I hope Peter Falk walked to death’s door and turned round to say, ‘Oh, just one more thing...’ ”
Falk leaves his actress wife Shera Danese, 61, and daughters Catherine and Jackie, who he adopted with his first wife, Alyce Mayo.
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