Rest in peace, Lieutenant

Peter Falk of US TV show ‘Columbo’ passes away at 83.

LOS ANGELES:

Peter Falk, the gravel-voiced US actor who played the rumpled TV detective Columbo, has died at the age of 83, his family said on June 25.

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 on Thursday, June 23 at his home.

“Peter Falk is survived by his wife, Shera, of 34 years and two daughters from a previous marriage,” his family lawyer said in a statement.

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

In 1960, Falk moved 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.

But Falk is best remembered for his television turn as Columbo, which earned him four Emmy awards over the years.

The show started as a TV movie in 1968 and later made into a weekly series, in 1971. It quickly rose in the ratings to become one of the most popular shows on television.

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

“Just one more thing,” Columbo would say several times each episode, resuming his questioning of the prime suspect who till that moment was certain that he had failed to arouse the investigators’ suspicion.

Part of Falk’s loveable role 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.

The veteran actor also had considerable success on stage and on the big screen, with more than 40 Hollywood movies to his credit.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.