Peter Falk passed away in 2011 but he left behind a legacy that will forever be remembered thanks to the characters he brought to life on both film and television, especially Detective Columbo. He was almost as eccentric and easygoing as the characters he played, but he also had a range that allowed him to play everything, from grandpas to mobsters.
Related: 10 Things To Know About Johnny Depp's Friendship With Hunter S. Thompson
Falk was also as interesting as the characters he played. His career is a cacophony of fun facts. The coat that made his character Columbo famous was Falk's own raincoat. He tried to join the CIA before becoming an actor, and he can be seen in a 1980s classic that remains adored by the public to this day.
10 Columbo Is His Most Iconic Role
Lt. Columbo was the disheveled yet brilliant detective whose cat and mouse games with his murder suspects were both comical and intense. Columbo was not your typical policeman. He wore slovenly, unkempt clothes, most famous of which was his ratty old raincoat. Also, Columbo was rarely seen without his cigar or his dog, who was aptly named "Dog." Columbo was an institution of television for several decades from the 1970s to the early 1990s. It is safe to say that Columbo is Peter Falk's most iconic role, but there is a lot more to his career than this murder mystery icon.
9 He Tried To Work For The CIA
Before Falk went into acting, starting in the theater, he applied to work for the CIA. Falk had graduated with a master's in Public Administration from Syracuse University in 1953 and wanted to put his degree to good use. He was rejected, however, because of his membership in the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, which he had joined when working with the Merchant Marine Service at the end of WWII. After earning some clout and respect in his local theater circuit, he went full-time with his theater career in 1956.
8 He Was In Several Iconic Films
Although he will always be remembered as Lt. Columbo of the LAPD, Falk was in several classic films both before and after (and during) his tenure as the cigar-huffing detective. Falk had roles in comedy classics like It's A Mad Mad Mad World, The Great Race, and The In-Laws, which is considered by many to be one of the best comedies ever written and was remade in the early 2000s with Al Brooks and Michael Douglas. Oh, and "just one more thing" as Columbo used to say, he was the grandpa reading the story to a sick Fred Savage in The Princess Bride.
7 He Brought His Own Clothes To Set
Columbo's character was best visually personified by his cheap cigar and his wrinkled old raincoat. In fact, there is a whole episode of Columbo where his famous ratty coat is replaced with a new, fashionable raincoat, and Columbo's investigation is thrown off until he puts his old coat back on. Funny enough, that famous raincoat was actually Peter Falk's. One of the most iconic pieces of clothing in television history was not a prop or a costume, it was just something that Falk had on hand. It just goes to show how dedicated he was to his character.
Related: 8 Facts You Might Not Know About Brie Larson's Life And Career
6 He Played A Parody Of A Detective Too
Another fun fact about Falk and Columbo; Columbo is one of the most famous detective characters in the history of fiction, up there with Monk, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Well, in 1976, just as Columbo had become a household name, Falk parodied his detective characters in Murder By Death. The film is a parody of all of the major detective characters that were popular at the time, and Falk served as the parody of Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon as the noir detective Sam Diamond.
5 He Won 4 Emmys
Falk's portrayal of Columbo garnered him immense notoriety in Hollywood, but so did many of his other roles. Columbo however was the most recognized, and his portrayal earned him four Emmys. He also earned an Academy Award nomination before Columbo in 1961 for his role in Murder Inc, and again in 1963 for his role in Pocket Full Of Miracles.
4 He Was In A Chris Kattan Movie
Not every project an actor takes can be a knockout success. Although by the time he took the role, Falk had garnered a resume that any actor would be envious of, he did his share of flops. Falk played the father/mob boss in Chris Kattan's critically panned film Corky Romano. The film only made $10 million in profit at the box office (its budget was $11 million and it made close to $21 million) and to this day it has only 2 and a half stars on IMDB and an embarrassing 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.
3 He Was A Gifted Artist
Everyone needs a hobby, including our favorite actors. Like Jim Carrey, Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp, and several others, Peter Falk was a gifted painter and artist. He regularly drew and sketched nudes, and had people model for him regularly. Pieces of Falk's art continue to pop up in auctions across the globe, usually selling for a couple of hundred dollars.
Related: 10 Celebrities Who Paint In Their Free Time
2 He Had A Glass Eye
Falk had a very distinct look, and that look was caused by his glass eye. Falk lost his eye to cancer when he was only 3 years old. It was because he only had one working eye that he was not allowed to join the military in WWII but was allowed to serve in the Merchant Marine Service. While it was at first a hurdle to his career, Falk's eye eventually became an asset, especially when he became Columbo.
1 His Death Changed The Law
Sadly, the end of Falk's life was stained by tragedy. His second wife was acting as his conservator when he was dying and according to Peter Falk's daughter, she was banning his other family members from visiting him in his final days. She and others lobbied the New York State legislature to pass what is now known as Falk's Law, which forbids conservators from banning a person's offspring from visitation and provides legal guidelines for how conservators can handle visits. More than a dozen other states have now passed similar laws.
