One of his greatest passions is drawing and sketching; has studio on grounds of Beverly Hills estate.
His right eye was surgically removed at the age of three, because of cancer.
Graduated from Ossining High School.
President of his class.
Worked as an efficiency expert for the Budget Bureau of the state of Connecticut before becoming an actor. Studied acting with Eva Le Galliene and Sanford Meisner.
Is a Certified Public Accountant.
Falk puts damper on rumor that his trademark 'Columbo' raincoat has been placed in the Smithsonian Institution: says it's in his upstairs closet.
First foray into acting: filled in the role of detective in high school play when original student-actor fell sick. Left college to serve as a cook in the Merchant Marines. Returned and received poli. sci degree from NY's New School, then graduate degree from Syracuse U. Applied to CIA, but was turned down. Then took state budget job in Hartford, CT. Five years after he started taking acting lessons, he earned first Oscar nomination.
Columbia Studios chief, the boorish Harry Cohn, rejected Falk declaring, "For the same money, I can get an actor with two eyes!"
Celebrity sponsor of the Great American Meatout, March 20, 2001.
His father was of Russian Jewish ancestry and his mother was of Polish Jewish, with a mix of Hungarian and Czech Jewish ancestry further back. So, contrary to Falk's public image, he is not an Italian but a mixture of very hardy Jewish Eastern European stock.
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."
His daughter Catherine Falk is a private detective in real life
Columbo's first name is never mentioned in the series. Though it was reported to be Philip Columbo by Fred Worth in his book 'Super Trivia' (1977) and later copied by the makers of Trivial Pursuit in 1984, Worth admitted to having fabricated the name as a means of proof of copyright in case someone were to have pirated his book (which someone did). The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, but was thrown out in the end.
Columbo's wife, who he speaks of often, 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 (only 504 were made that year), is in most every episode and is treated almost as a character.
Children: Catherine, Jackie
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 153-154. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
He earned an MPA, Master of Public Administration degree, from Syracuse University in 1953.
Officially declared himself an actor at age 29 and moved to New York City.
During the 5th June 2000 episode of "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn", Craig Kilborn's 3rd question to Peter Falk during "Five Questions" was this: "Use the words 'Falk' and 'you' in a sentence." Peter Falk chuckled a bit, touched his nose, and replied simply: "Falk... you!"
Has his look-alike puppet in the French show "Guignols de l'info, Les" (1988).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York City on September 16, 1927, and raised in Ossining, New York, where his parents, Michael and Madeline (Hauster) Falk, ran a small clothing store. He earned a Masters degree in public administration at Syracuse University in 1953. But it wasn't until 1956, at the age of 29, that he left his job with the Budget Bureau, moved to Greenwich Village in New York and there declared himself an actor.
In New York, he made his professional debut Off Broadway in Molieres Don Juan" at the Fourth Street Theatre on January 3, 1956, and the following season he was in the Circle of the Squares highly successful revival of The Iceman Cometh" with Jason Robards. After three years of theater work, Falk left New York and moved to Hollywood where he landed his first movie, Murder Incorporated, and was nominated for an Oscar. He was nominated that same year for an Emmy playing a drug addict in The Law and Mr. Jones. Frank Capra"s A Pocketful of Miracles with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford was Falk"s second feature in 1961 and with it his second Oscar nomination. Also that year he got a second Emmy nomination in the Dick Powell Playhouses presentation of The Price of Tomatoes" -- and this time took home the prize.
After rejecting several other television series offers, Falk undertook The Trials of OBrien," a weekly one hour comedy whodunit. But it was the inimitable character of Lt. Columbo which secured Falk's fame and won him a total of four Emmy's. Columbo quickly climbed to the top five in the Nielsen Ratings.
