Sunday, June 26, 2011

File:Peter Falk Columbo.JPG

US actor Peter Falk died on Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills, California after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Falk may be most known for his role as Detective Columbo in the television series of the same name that ran on NBC from 1968 to 1978, which moved to ABC in 1989. The last episode aired in 2003. His portrayal of the character won him four Emmy Awards.

Falk, born in 1927, had his right eye surgically removed at the age of three, due to a cancerous growth. He wore a glass eye for most of his life. Because of this, he was rejected by the armed services at the end of World War II.

Falk starred in his first crime film, Murder, Inc. in 1960, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. In Blake Edwards’s 1965 film The Great Race, he appeared with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood.

Falk is survived by his wife and two daughters.