Peter Falk

Peter Michael Falk, September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011 was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo. He appeared in numerous films and television guest roles and was nominated for an Academy Award twice (for 1960's Murder, Inc. and 1961's Pocketful of Miracles), and won the Emmy Award on five occasions (four for Columbo) and the Golden Globe award once. Director William Friedkin, when discussing Falk's role in his 1978 film The Brink's Job said that "Peter has a great range from comedy to drama. He could break your heart or he could make you laugh.

In 1968 he starred with Gene Barry in a ninety-minute TV pilot about a highly-skilled, laid-back detective. Columbo eventually became part of an anthology series titled, The NBC Mystery Movie, along with McCloud and McMillan And Wife. The detective series stayed on NBC from 1971–1978, took a respite, and returned occasionally on ABC from 1989–2003. He was "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", writes historian David Fantle. Describing his role, Variety columnist Howard Prouty writes, "The joy of all this is watching Columbo dissemble the fiendishly clever cover stories of the loathsome rats who consider themselves his better.

Early life

Born in New York City, Falk was the son of Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and his wife, Madeline (née Hockhauser), an accountant and buyer. His family was Jewish, of Polish, Hungarian, Czech, and Russian background.

Falk's right eye was surgically removed when he was three because of a retinoblastoma; he wore a glass eye for most of his life. Despite this, Falk participated in team sports, mainly baseball and basketball, as a boy. In a 1997 interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine with Arthur Marx, Falk said, "I remember once in high school the umpire called me out at third base when I was sure I was safe. I got so mad I took out my glass eye, handed it to him and said, 'Try this.' I got such a laugh you wouldn't believe.

Falk's first stage appearance was at the age of 12 in The Pirates of Penzance at Camp High Point in upstate New York, where one of his camp counselors was Ross Martin (they would later act together in The Great Race and the Columbo episode "Suitable For Framing"). Falk attended Ossining High School in Westchester County, New York, where he was a star athlete and president of his senior class. After graduating from high school in 1945, Falk briefly attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and then tried to join the armed services as World War II was drawing to a close. Rejected because of his glass eye, he joined the United States Merchant Marine, and served as a cook and mess boy. "There they don't care if you're blind or not", Falk said in 1997. "The only one on a ship who has to see is the captain. And in the case of the Titanic, he couldn't see very well, either. Falk recalls this period in his autobiography:

"A year on the water was enough for me, so I returned to college. I didn't stay long. Too itchy. What to do next? I signed up to go to Israel to fight in the war with Egypt.  I just wanted more excitement. . . . However, the war, to everyone's amazement, was over in the blink of an eye.

Personal life

Falk married Alyce Mayo, whom he met when they were both students at Syracuse University, on April 17, 1960. They adopted two daughters, Catherine (who is a private investigator) and Jackie. They divorced in 1976. On December 7, 1977, Falk married actress Shera Danese, who guest-starred on the Columbo series on numerous occasions.

Falk was an accomplished artist. For many years he took classes at the Art Students League of New York. Examples of his sketches can be seen on his official website.

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

His memoir, Just One More Thing was published by Carroll & Graf on August 23, 2006 (ISBN 978-0786717958).

Career

Stage career

While working in Hartford, Falk joined a community theater group called the Mark Twain Masquers, where he performed in plays that included The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Crucible, and The Country Girl by Clifford Odets. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. Falk later recalled that he had "lied his way" into the class, which was for professional actors. He drove down to Westport from Hartford every Wednesday, when the classes were held, and was usually late.

In his 1997 interview with Arthur Marx, Falk said "One evening when I arrived late, she looked at me and asked, 'Young man, why are you always late?' and I said, 'I have to drive down from Hartford.'" She looked down her nose and said, "What do you do in Hartford? There's no theater there. How do you make a living acting?" Falk confessed he wasn't a professional actor. According to Falk, she looked at him sternly and said, "Well, you should be." He drove back to Hartford and quit his job.

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. In 1956, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village to pursue an acting career.

His first New York stage role was in an Off-Broadway production of Molière's Dom Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre that closed after its only performance on January 3, 1956. Falk played the second lead, Sganarelle. His next theater role proved far better for his career. In May he appeared at Circle in the Square in a revival of The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards, playing the bartender.

Early films

Falk was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as the gangster Abe Reles in Murder, Inc.

Despite his stage success, a theatrical agent advised Falk not to expect much film work because of his glass eye. He failed a screen test at Columbia Pictures and was told by studio boss Harry Cohn that "for the same price I can get an actor with two eyes." He also failed to get a role in the film Marjorie Morningstar despite a promising interview for the second lead. His first film performances were in small roles in Wind Across the Everglades (1958), The Bloody Brood (1959) and Pretty Boy Floyd (1960).

Falk's performance in Murder, Inc. (1960) was a turning point in his career. He 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. The New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther, while dismissing the movie as "an average gangster film", singled out Falk's "amusingly vicious performance.

Crowther wrote:

Early television roles

Falk first appeared on television in 1957, in the dramatic anthology programs that later became known as the "Golden Age of Television." He appeared in one episode of Robert Montgomery Presents in 1957, and also appeared in Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, New York Confidential, Naked City, Have Gun–Will Travel and Decoy.

In 1961, 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. On September 29, 1961, Falk and Walter Matthau guest-starred in the premiere episode, "The Million Dollar Dump," of ABC's crime drama Target: The Corruptors!, with Stephen McNally. He won an Emmy for The Price of Tomatoes, a Dick Powell TV drama in 1962.

Falk's first television series was in the title role of the drama The Trials of O'Brien, in which he played a lawyer. The show ran in 1965 and 1966 and was cancelled after 22 episodes.

In 1971, Pierre Cossette produced the first Grammy Awards show on television with some help from Falk. Cossette writes in his autobiography, "What meant the most to me, though, is the fact that Peter Falk saved my ass. I love show business, and I love Peter Falk.

Later career

Falk was a close friend of independent film director John Cassavetes and appeared in Cassavetes' films Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence, and, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night. Cassavetes, in turn, guest-starred in the Columbo episode "Étude in Black" in 1972. Falk describes his experiences working with Cassavetes, and specifically remembers his directing strategies such as "shooting an actor when he might be unaware the camera was running."

"You never knew when the camera might be going. And it was never: 'Stop. Cut. Start again.' John would walk in the middle of a scene and talk, and though you didn't realize it, the camera kept going. So I never knew what the hell he was doing.  But he ultimately made me, and I think every actor, less self-conscious, less aware of the camera than anybody I've ever worked with."

In 1978, he appeared on the comedy TV show Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, where Frank Sinatra was the evening's victim.

Falk continued to work in films, including his performance as a questionable ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the comedy The In-Laws. Director Arthur Hiller said during an interview that the "film started out because Alan Arkin and Peter Falk wanted to work together. They went to Warner's and said, 'We'd like to do a picture,' and Warner's said fine . . . and out came The In-laws. . . . of all the films I've done, The In-laws is the one I get the most comments on.":290 Movie critic Roger Ebert compared the film with a later remake:

"Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in the earlier film, versus Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks this time. . . . yet the chemistry is better in the earlier film. Falk goes into his deadpan lecturer mode, slowly and patiently explaining things that sound like utter nonsense. Arkin develops good reasons for suspecting he is in the hands of a madman.

Failing health and death

At a two-day conservatorship trial in Los Angeles in June 2009, one of Falk's personal physicians, Dr. Stephen Read, reported Falk rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations in 2007. Dr. Read said it was unclear whether Falk's condition had worsened as a result of anesthesia or some other reaction to the operations. He went on to add that Falk's condition was so bad he could no longer remember the character of Columbo. Shera Danese Falk was appointed as her husband's conservator.

Falk died at his Beverly Hills home on June 23, 2011 at the age of 83. According to his daughter, Catherine Falk, the actor had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Filmography

Year                     Film            Role                                    Notes

1960 Murder Inc. Abe Reles Nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

The Secret of the Purple Reef Tom Weber

1961 Pocketful of Miracles Joy Boy Nominated again for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

1962 Pressure Point Young Psychiatrist

1963 The Balcony Police Chief

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Cab Driver

1964 Robin and the 7 Hoods Guy Gisborne

Attack and Retreat (Italiani Brava Gente) Medic Italian production

1965 The Great Race Max

1966 Penelope Lieutenant Horatio Bixbee

Too Many Thieves Danny

1967 Luv Milt Manville

1968 Anzio Corporal Jack Rabinoff Alternative titles: The Battle of Anzio, Lo Sbarco di Anzio (Italian)

1969 Machine Gun McCain Charlie Adamo Alternative titles: For a Price, Gli intoccabili (Italian)

Castle Keep Sergeant Rossi

1970 Husbands Archie Black Alternative title: Husbands: A Comedy About Life, Death and Freedom

1974 A Woman Under the Influence Nick Longhetti

1976 Murder by Death Sam Diamond

Mikey and Nicky Mikey

Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story Geoffrey Griffin

1978 The Cheap Detective Lou Peckinpaugh Alternative title: Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective

Scared Straight! Himself - Host Documentary; directed by Arnold Shapiro

1979 The In-Laws Vincent J. Ricardo

1981 …All the Marbles Harry Sears Alternative title: The California Dolls

"The Great Muppet Caper" Tramp (uncredited)

1987 The Princess Bride Grandfather/Narrator

Happy New Year Nick Directed by John G. Avildsen

Wings of Desire Himself Directed by Wim Wenders

1988 Vibes Harry Buscafusco Alternative title: Vibes: The Secret of the Golden Pyramids

1989 Cookie Dominick "Dino" Capisco

1990 Tune in Tomorrow Pedro Carmichael Alternative title: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

1993 Faraway, So Close! Himself Directed by Wim Wenders

1995 Roommates Rocky Holzcek

1998 Money Kings Vinnie Glynn

2001 Made Max

Corky Romano Francis A. "Pops" Romano Alternative title: Corky Romano: 'Special' Agent

2002 Undisputed Mendy Ripstein

2004 Shark Tale Don Feinberg Voice

2005 The Thing About My Folks Sam Kleinman

2005 Checking Out Morris Applebaum

2007 Next Irv

2008 American Cowslip Father Randolph

Television

Year Show Role Notes

1958 Kraft Suspense Theatre Izzy 1 episode

1959 Decoy Fred Dana 1 episode

1960 Have Gun–Will Travel Waller 1 episode

The Untouchables Duke Mullen 1 episode, "The Underworld Bank"

1961 The Twilight Zone Ramos Clemente 1 episode "The Mirror"

The Barbara Stanwyck Show Joe 1 episode, "The Assassin"

1962 The New Breed Lopez 1 episode

1963 Wagon Train Gus Morgan 1 episode

1964 Ben Casey Dr. Jimmy Reynolds 2 episodes

1965–1966 The Trials of O'Brien Daniel O'Brien 22 episodes

1968 A Hatful of Rain Polo Pope 1 episode

1968–2003 Columbo Lieutenant Columbo 69 episodes

1971 The Name of the Game Lewis Corbett 1 episode

1978 Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (comedy) Guest appearance with Frank Sinatra – Watch

1995 The Sunshine Boys Willie Clark Television movie

2001 The Lost World Reverend Theo Kerr Television movie

2001 A Town Without Christmas Max Television Movie

2003 Finding John Christmas Max Television movie

2004 When Angels Come To Town Max Television Movie