…like that of his contemporary Telly Savalas of “Kojak” fame, Mr. Falk’s prime-time popularity was founded on a single role.
A lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department, Columbo was a comic variation on the traditional fictional detective. With the keen mind of Sherlock Holmes and Philip Marlowe, he was cast in the mold of neither ”” not a gentleman scholar, and not a tough guy. He was instead a mass of quirks and peculiarities, a seemingly distracted figure in a rumpled raincoat, perpetually patting his pockets for a light for his signature stogie.
He drove a battered Peugeot, was unfailingly polite, was sometimes accompanied by a basset hound named Dog, and was constantly referring to the wisdom of his wife (who was never seen on screen) and a variety of relatives and acquaintances who were identified in Homeric-epithet-like shorthand ”” an uncle who played the bagpipes with the Shriners, say, or a nephew majoring in dermatology at U.C.L.A. ”” and who were called to mind by the circumstances of the crime at hand.
I loved him in [i]Columbo[/i] and [i]The Princess Bride[/i].
A classic supporting actor with great character.
Was he 83? Really?
Some happy memories growing up watching Columbo. Wonderful character, some fine writing, and then Peter Falk, wonderfully cast.
My other favorite of his is as the sidekick to Jack Lemon in The Great Race.
Peter Falk WAS Columbo. Although I wasn’t yet a teenager, I’ll never forget him on television in “Price of Tomatoes”, either.
Yes, “The Great Race.” Push the button, Max!