Peter Falk

PETER FALK d2011. American actor best known for his role as Lt. Columbo in the classic television detective series Columbo. He was nominated for an Academy Award twice for Murder Inc (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961) and won the Emmy Award on five occasions (four for Columbo) and the Golden Globe award once. In 1968, he had starred with Gene Barry in a ninety-minute television pilot about a highly-skilled, laid-back detective ; Columbo eventually became part of an anthology series titled The NBC Mystery Movie. The series stayed on NBC from 1971-1978, took a respite and then returned occasionally on ABC from 1989-2003. Falk was "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", wrote historian David Fantle. In 1996 TV Guide ranked him number 21 on its "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list". He died aged 83 from pneumonia in 2011.