Peter Falk

Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that September 16 is the anniversary of the birth in of Film and television actor Peter Michael Falk who is best known to many for his role as the television detective Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo.
My mother enjoyed Columbo even when dealing with Alzheimer's in the early stages. By the way, many years ago I purchased the complete Columbo series on DVD.
Rest in peace Peter Michael Falk.

Image: Young Peter Michael Falk; Peter Michael Falk as Columbo in his raincoat; Peter Falk and wife Shera Danese - 17th annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards, Santa Monica, CA, March 23, 2002
1. Background from newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/in-memoriam-peter-falk
"In Memoriam: Peter Falk
It’s surprising to learn, from reading biographical sketches of Peter Falk on the occasion of his death, at the age of eighty-three, that he got a master’s degree in public administration and was working in Connecticut as an efficiency expert when, in his mid-twenties, he decided to take a chance on an acting career. It’s equally odd to note that he had two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor in consecutive years—1960 and 1961—for his roles in “Murder, Inc.” and “A Pocketful of Miracles.” They hardly helped. He was working mainly on television, doing some movies but not getting plum roles, when, in 1967, he met John Cassavetes at a Lakers game and then had lunch with him at the Paramount commissary. As Marshall Fine writes in his biography of Cassavetes, “Accidental Genius,” “Falk had a script by Elaine May, ‘Mikey and Nicky,’ that he thought Cassavetes would be perfect for.” At the same time, Cassavetes pitched “Husbands” to Falk. Each actor thought the other had agreed to the projects, and each had misunderstood.

Well, both got made—“Husbands” was shot in 1969; “Mikey and Nicky,” in 1973—and Falk’s artistic immortality is assured by his work with Cassavetes. “Husbands” is one of the great outpourings of pent-up emotion in cinematic history; it’s a men’s-liberation movement unto itself, complete with all the self-indulgence, self-punishment, and cruelty that spews forth from the puncturing of the male ego. In the trio of husbands (which includes Ben Gazzara), Falk plays something of the superego—a dentist, proud, touchy, and tremulous, who has the hardest time pulling away from his settled life and who, when calling himself to reason and responsibility, does it with a wrenching, viperish violence.

It’s similar to the role he plays in May’s “Mikey and Nicky,” a story of small-time gangland, in which Nicky (Cassavetes) is being hunted by an incensed crime boss and calls on his best friend, Mikey (Falk), a member of the same gang, to help him get away. Where Nicky is a free-and-easy ladies’ man, Mikey is a responsible family man—a role that, as in “Husbands,” comes with bitter implications (albeit radically different ones than emerge in Cassavetes’s film).

In between came Cassavetes’s “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which Falk played a road-crew laborer whose wife (played by Cassavetes’s wife, Gena Rowlands) is free-spirited and eccentric to the point of being considered mad. It’s a demanding and conflict-riven role, with its blend of tenderness and anger, compassion and frustration, bewilderment and assertiveness—and, as in “Husbands” and “Mikey and Nicky,” it’s the role of the straight man who copes with a more antic and less self-conscious partner.

It’s the work of a rationalist torn with passion. The dryly caustic humor he brings to his roles—even to his role as Columbo—is that of a quietly calculating intelligence that keeps that passion under pressure, and it’s the genius of Cassavetes to recognize, to reveal, and to deploy the tension and the heat that Falk—the actor and the man—gives off. As Falk said about working on “Husbands,” “There was no character. There was me.”

2. Background from
"Peter Falk Biography
Overview Mini Bio | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (6) | Trivia (49) | Personal Quotes (3) |Salary (2)
Overview
Born September 16, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA

Died June 23, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California, USA (cardiorespiratory arrest, pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease)
Birth Name Peter Michael Falk
Height 5' 6" (1.68 m)
Mini Bio
Peter Michael Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in New York City, New York. At the age of 3, his right eye was surgically removed due to cancer. He graduated from Ossining High School, where he was president of his class. His early career choices involved becoming a certified public accountant, and he worked as an efficiency expert for the Budget Bureau of the state of Connecticut before becoming an actor. On choosing to change careers, he studied the acting art with Eva Le Gallienne and Sanford Meisner. His most famous role is that of the detective Columbo; however, this was not his first foray into acting the role of a detective. During a high school play, he stood in for such a role when the original student actor fell sick. He has been married twice, and is the father of two children: Catherine, a private detective in real life, and Jackie. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2008, which was most likely brought on by Alzheimer's disease, from which he died on June 23, 2011.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rachel

Spouse
Shera Danese (7 December 1977 - 23 June 2011) ( his death)
Alyce Caroline Mayo (17 April 1960 - 28 May 1976) ( divorced) ( 2 children)

Trade Mark (6)
1. As Columbo: The raincoat, the cigar, the slouch, the false exit followed by the catchphrase, "One more thing..."
2. Half-closed eye which was actually removed in childhood
3. Short and stocky physique
4. High-pitched gravelly voice
5. Thick eyebrows
6. New York accent

Trivia (49)
1. One of his greatest passions was drawing and sketching; has studio on grounds of Beverly Hills estate.
2. His right eye was surgically removed at the age of three, because of cancer.
3. Attended and graduated from Ossining High School on Ossining, New York.
4. President of his high school class.
5. Worked as an efficiency expert for the Budget Bureau of the state of Connecticut before becoming an actor. Studied acting with Eva Le Gallienne and Sanford Meisner.
6. Was a certified public accountant.
7. Falk put the damper on a rumor that his trademark Columbo raincoat had been placed in the Smithsonian Institution: said that it was in his upstairs closet.
8. In his first foray into acting, he took the role of detective in a high school play when original student-actor fell sick. He left college to serve as a cook in the Merchant Marines. He later received political science degree from New School in New York, then graduated from Syracuse University. He applied at the CIA, but was turned down. He took state budget department job in Hartford, Connecticut. Five years after he started taking acting lessons, he earned first Oscar nomination.
9. Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures and renowned for his boorishness and vulgarity, rejected Falk, declaring, "For the same money, I can get an actor with two eyes!".
10. Peter's paternal grandparents, Louis and Ida Falk, were Russian Jewish immigrants. Peter's maternal grandfather, Peter Hochhauser, was a Hungarian Jew, and Peter's maternal grandmother, Rosa Heller, was a Czech Jewish immigrant (from what was then Bohemia).
11. Once when he was playing in a Little League game, the umpire called him out. Falk thought that he was safe. He pulled his glass eye out of its socket and handed it to the umpire, telling him, "Here, I think you might need this.".
12. His daughter Catherine Falk is a private detective in real life.
13. Lt. Columbo's first name is explicitly and even doggedly never revealed in the series (i.e. "What's your first name? Lieutenant...") However, with modern freeze-frame capabilities, when Columbo flashes his badge in the episode "Dead Weight", the name "Frank" can clearly be seen on his ID.
14. Columbo's wife, of whom he often speaks, is never seen in the series. Interestingly, most of the facts that are supposedly known about Lt. Columbo's private life are up in the air and sometimes contradictory. This may be due to his character being somewhat forgetful or may be due to him leading a suspect with a "likely story" hoping they will trip up and reveal a clue. His car, a 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet, is in most every episode and is treated almost as a character.
15. Had two daughters with his wife Alyce Mayo: Catherine Falk and Jackie Falk.
16. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 153-154. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN [login to see] .
17. Began acting when he was 26, but did not officially declare himself an actor and move to New York until he was 28.
18. During the June 5, 2000, episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (1999), Craig Kilborn's third question to Falk during "Five Questions" was this: "Use the words 'Falk' and 'you' in a sentence". Falk chuckled a bit, touched his nose, and replied simply: "Falk... you!".
19. Has his lookalike puppet in the French comedy show Les Guignols de l'info (1988).
20. He and his good friend John Cassavetes made six movies together: Husbands (1970), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Mikey and Nicky (1976), Opening Night (1977), Big Trouble(1986), A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and one television movie: Columbo: Étude in Black (1972).
21. Had a street renamed after him in his hometown of Ossining, New York. To unveil the Peter Falk Place street sign, he pulled off a trademark raincoat covering the sign (2005).
22. Was close friends with the late Patrick McGoohan.
23. Avatar's voice in the animated movie Wizards (1977) (voiced by Bob Holt) was modelled after Falk.
24. Has inspired at least two Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters. Dick Dastardly in Wacky Races (1968) was based on Falk's Max Meen from The Great Race (1965), and Mumbly, the detective dog on The New Tom & Jerry Show (1975) was loosely based on Columbo.
25. In 1961, he became the first actor nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year, receiving best supporting nominations for the movie Murder, Inc. (1960) and the television series The Law and Mr. Jones (1960). He followed up in 1962 by being doubly nominated again for supporting actor for the movie Pocketful of Miracles (1961) and best actor (he won) for "The Price of Tomatoes", an episode of The Dick Powell Theatre (1961).
26. Auditioned for the role of Ted Henderson in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), which went to Elliott Gould.
27. He was involved in a car accident when he lost control while driving, sustaining a head injury. [June 2008]
28. Had a hip replacement. [June 2008]
29. Diagnosed with dementia, probably brought on by Alzheimer's disease, in 2007.
30. Had been a heavy cigarette smoker since he was 15, but after he started playing Columbo he began smoking cigars as well.
31. Wanted to join the United States Marine Corps when he was 17, but was rejected because of his blind eye.
32. Underwent a series of major dental operations in 2007.
33. He was awarded Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ministry of Culture of France; the medal was given to him by Gérard Depardieu in March 1996.
34. After high school, he briefly attended Hamilton College in upstate New York. He was a merchant marine after he dropped out of college. He went to New York City where he received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He received his Master's degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University in Syracause, New York.
35. At 29 years old, he studied acting with the Mark Twain Masquers in Hartford, Connecticut, and studied with Eva Le Gallienne at the White Barn Theater in Westport, Connecticut.
36. Numerous press obits incorrectly stated that Falk won a 1972 Tony Award for Best Actor in a play for Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue". As listed on a Tony Awards website search, Cliff Gorman won the 1972 Tony Award for the play "Lenny". In addition, Falk was never nominated for a Tony Award in his career. The few things Gorman and Falk had in common was that they appeared in films directed by William Friedkin and they had a glass eye (in case of Gorman it's more like an unconfirmed rumor).
37. When actors are required to move from one location to another during filming on a sound stage, the exact spot they are to move to is marked on the floor, usually with a piece of tape. This is to ensure that they stand in the area that is preset for the correct camera angle, lighting, sound, etc. Part of Falk's trademark behavior as Columbo was out of necessity, as he pretended to scratch or touch his forehead over his left eye. In reality, he blocked the camera view of his good eye, so as he was looking down, he could locate the tape on the floor. That is how his trademark "pensive Columbo look" got its start.
38. Adopted daughter, Catherine Falk, files for conservatorship, explaining that Falk has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and, at age 81, he no longer recognizes anyone. Later sworn statements from the Falk family, family friends and associates report Catherine has been long-estranged from her father and would not handle his affairs in his best interest. [December 2008]
39. Shera Danese, Falk's wife of 32 years, files paperwork with the court, including sworn statements from longtime CPA, attorney, friends and family members, stating she is already attending to Falk's affairs, Falk named her as his guardian when first diagnosed with the disease, and long-estranged adopted daughter's attempt to gain conservatorship and control of his affairs is not in Falk's best interests. [January 2009]
40. Shera Danese, his wife, is awarded conservatorship of his affairs. [May 2009]
41. Best known by the public for his starring role as the title character on the television series Columbo (1971).
42. His remains were interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
43. Peter Michael Falk passed away on June 23, 2011, three months away from what would have been his 84th birthday on September 16.
44. He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on July 25, 2013.
45. He was considered for the role of Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) before Robert Duvall was cast.
46. His mother died in 2003, only four years before Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
47. His first wife Alyce Caroline Mayo died in March 2016 at the age of 85.
48. Volunteered to fight for Israel in its 1948 War of Independence, but the conflict ended before he could go.
49. Has never appeared in a Best Picture Oscar nominated film.
Personal Quotes (3)
1. [upon losing to Peter Ustinov for the 1961 Oscars] When I hit the seat, I turned to the press agent and said "You're fired!". I didn't want him charging me for another day.
2. [on Columbo's appeal] What are you hanging around for? Just one thing. You want to know how he gets caught.
3. Being chased by Columbo is like being nibbled to death by a duck.

Salary (2)
Wind Across the Everglades (1958) $300 /week
Murder by the Book (1971) $350,000 per 2 hour episode"

Peter Falk Interview Pebble Mill BBC Television Approx 1993
"Here's the late great Peter Falk "Columbo" being Interviewed by Ross King on the long running Pebble Mill BBC Television Magazine programme in Approx 1993. The article is introduced by the lovely Sarah Greene."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AchcGZkA0Q

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price SCPO Morris Ramsey SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless CPT Scott Sharon PO1 H Gene Lawrence

The hapless, very effective, detective

Columbo