LOS ANGELES: Peter Falk, star of the 1970s hit TV drama "Columbo," whose role as the rumpled detective of the same name earned him four Emmys, has died after years of battling Alzheimer's disease. He was 83.
Falk passed away peacefully at his Beverly Hills home Wednesday evening, according to a statement issued by his wife's attorney.
The actor enjoyed a long and successful career, first on the stage, then in movies and on television, where he gained fame as police lieutenant Columbo, whose seeming absent-mindedness was actually a ruse to cover for his shrewd questioning of suspects and investigations.
He earned two nominations for the film industry's top honours, the Oscar, for supporting roles in 1960's "Murder, Inc." and in "Pocketful of Miracles" the following year.
Falk took hold of his first Emmy trophy in a leading role in a 1961 production of "The Dick Powell Theatre," and 10 years later, in 1972, he began a string of Emmy wins that would see him claim U.S. TV's top honour four more times as Columbo.
As a child, the actor's right eye had been surgically removed due to a malignant tumor and was replaced with a glass eye. That handicap became, perhaps, one of Falk's major assets in his "Columbo" role, as the physical trademark enhanced the detective's image as a dishevelled, oddball crime sleuth.
The homicide cop's questions would often seem disorganized and out-of-place, but they inevitably would lead the murderer to help reveal his guilt.
The show became a smash hit after its prime-time debut on NBC in 1971 and continued on television for many years, even spawning several TV movies later in the actor's life.
Born on Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City, Falk was the son of a store owner. He began acting as a child in school and later joined the U.S. Merchant Marine because his glass eye made him ineligible for military service.
His love of acting took him to community theatre and from there he moved to off-Broadway productions and eventually the Great White Way.
In 1956, he made his Broadway debut in "Diary of a Scoundrel" and thus began a string of stage roles that eventually sent him to Hollywood, aiming for a movie career.
His glass eye gave him an on-screen look that some thought was strange for a leading man, and he was forced into a series of supporting roles. Yet, it was that cockeyed facial expression that eventually made him a star.
In "Murder, Inc." he was singled out for his sheer ability to look more sinister than his peers as a member of a gang of killers.
Yet, as Columbo, he was able to turn his slightly menacing look on its ear by delivering comic punch lines and conveying the outward appearance of a bumbling detective.
After "Columbo", Falk enjoyed numerous TV and film roles, continuing to working up until 2009.
Along with his two daughters, Falk is survived by Shera, his wife of 34 years. Catherine and Jackie are daughters with his previous wife to Alyce Mayo, whom Falk had divorced.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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