ACTOR
Peter Falk
- Known for
- Columbo (1971), Murder by Death (1976), Undisputed (2002), A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
49 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Peter Falk is an actor best known for Columbo, Murder by Death and Undisputed.
All facts (49)
- #001
At the age of three, Peter Falk had his right eye surgically removed because of cancer.
- #002
Peter Falk became a certified public accountant.
- #003
Peter Falk's daughter, Catherine Falk, is a private detective in real life.
- #004
Peter Falk took his first step into acting when he filled in for a sick student actor in a high school play, taking on the role of a detective. He left college to serve as a cook in the Merchant Marines. He later earned a degree in political science from the New School in New York and then graduated from Syracuse University. He applied to the CIA but was rejected. He took a job in the state budget department in Hartford, Connecticut. Five years after he began taking acting classes, he earned his first Oscar nomination.
- #005
When actors have to move from one spot to another during a take on a sound stage, the exact point they are to move to is usually marked on the floor with a piece of tape. The purpose is to make them stand in an area pre-set for the correct camera angle, lighting, sound and so on. Part of Falk's distinctive behavior as Columbo — pretending to scratch or touch his forehead above his left eye — came out of necessity. In reality, when looking down, his good eye blocked the camera's view as he tried to find the tape on the floor. His trademark "pensive Columbo look" emerged this way.
- #006
Falk put to rest a rumor that his trademark Columbo raincoat had been placed in the Smithsonian Institution: he said it was in his closet upstairs.
- #007
Because of his Hungarian-Jewish origins, a statue of Columbo was erected in Budapest, Hungary.
- #008
Peter's paternal grandparents, Louis and Ida Falk, were Russian Jewish immigrants. Peter's maternal grandfather, Peter Hochhauser, was a Hungarian Jew, and Peter's maternal grandmother, Rosa Heller (from Bohemia at the time), was a Czech Jewish immigrant.
- #009
A street in his hometown of Ossining, New York, was named after him. Peter Falk removed his trademark raincoat, which was covering the sign, to unveil the Peter Falk Place street sign (2005).
- #010
After his death, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, on July 25, 2013. Joe Mantegna, Ed Begley Jr. and Paul Reiser were guest speakers at the ceremony.
- #011
His adopted daughter Catherine Falk filed for conservatorship and stated that Falk suffered from Alzheimer's disease and, at 81, no longer recognized anyone. Sworn statements from Falk's family, family friends and associates later reported that Catherine had long been estranged from her father and would not handle his affairs in the way most beneficial to his interests.
- #012
He had been a heavy smoker since the age of 15, but after he began playing Lieutenant Columbo he also started smoking cigars.
- #013
In 1961 he became the first actor nominated in both the Oscar and Emmy categories, receiving best supporting nominations for the film Murder, Inc. (1960) and the television series The Law and Mr. Jones (1960). In 1962 he was nominated twice for best supporting actor, for the film Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won best actor for Price of Tomatoes (1962), an episode of The Dick Powell Theatre (1961).
- #014
One of his greatest passions was drawing and sketching; he had a studio on his Beverly Hills property.
- #015
At the age of 17 he wanted to join the United States Marine Corps but was rejected because he was blind in one eye.
- #016
He has a puppet likeness of himself on the French comedy show Les Guignols de l'info (1988).
- #017
He was diagnosed with dementia, possibly caused by Alzheimer's disease (2007).
- #018
He was awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture; the medal was presented to him by Gérard Depardieu in March 1996.
- #019
He began acting at the age of 26 but did not officially declare himself an actor, and did not move to New York until he was 28.
- #020
His mother, Madeline Hochhauser, died in 2003, only four years before Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
- #021
Falk's wife of 32 years, Shera Danese, submitted court documents including sworn statements from longtime CPAs, attorneys, friends and family members stating that she had already been handling Falk's affairs, that he had named her his conservator when he was first diagnosed with the illness, and that an attempt by his long-estranged adopted daughter to take over his conservatorship and control of his affairs was not in Falk's interest.
- #022
Before Robert Duvall was cast, Peter Falk was considered for the role of Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972).
- #023
Falk believed his performances came across much better when dubbed into foreign languages, especially French.
- #024
Falk inspired at least two Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters: Dick Dastardly in Wacky Races (1968) was based on his Max Meen in The Great Race (1965), and the detective dog Mumbly in The New Tom & Jerry Show (1975) was based on Columbo in general.
- #025
Falk was close friends with Patrick McGoohan. Together they made four television films: By Dawn's Early Light (1974), Identity Crisis (1975), Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990) and Ashes to Ashes (1998).
- #026
Falk and his close friend John Cassavetes made six films together: Husbands (1970), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Mikey and Nicky (1976), Opening Night (1977), Big Trouble (1986) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974), plus one television film, Étude in Black (1972).
- #027
As a child, Falk was an avid baseball and basketball player.
- #028
Falk married his second wife, Shera Danese, in 1977, when he was 50 and she was 28.
- #029
In early 2007, Falk reportedly optioned a Columbo script titled "Hear no Evil," planned as his 70th and final outing as the detective. ABC declined the project, and the series' producers tried to buy it from foreign production companies, but that did not work. Shortly afterward, Falk was diagnosed with dementia.
- #030
Falk died on June 23, 2011, three months short of his 84th birthday on September 16, 2011. His remains were interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
- #031
Falk's first wife, Alyce Caroline Mayo, died in March 2016 at the age of 85.
- #032
Falk auditioned for the role of Ted Henderson in Paul Mazursky's Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), which went to Elliott Gould.
- #033
Before becoming an actor, Falk worked as an efficiency expert for the Connecticut State Budget Bureau. He trained in acting with Eva Le Gallienne and Sanford Meisner.
- #034
Falk was in a car accident in which he lost control of the steering wheel and suffered a head injury. He also had hip replacement surgery.
- #035
Falk was president of his high school class.
- #036
Although Falk is often described as being of Hungarian-Jewish descent, his ancestry was in fact mostly Polish-Jewish and Russian-Jewish. He also had Czech-Jewish ancestry.
- #037
Falk volunteered to fight for Israel in the 1948 War of Independence, but the conflict ended before he could go.
- #038
The voice of Avatar in the animated film Wizards (1977), performed by Bob Holt, was modeled on Peter Falk.
- #039
Falk's wife, Shera Danese, was awarded conservatorship of his affairs.
- #040
Ross Martin was Peter Falk's acting teacher in earlier years.
- #041
At the age of 29, Peter Falk studied acting with the Mark Twain Masquers in Hartford, Connecticut, and worked with Eva Le Gallienne at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut.
- #042
Peter Falk is best known to the public for his leading role in the television series Columbo (1971). He played Lieutenant Columbo in 69 episodes (adventures) broadcast between 1968 and 2003.
- #043
After high school, Peter Falk briefly attended Hamilton College north of New York. After dropping out of college he was a merchant seaman. He went to New York City and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He earned his master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
- #044
Peter Falk was 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall.
- #045
Peter Falk attended and graduated from Ossining High School in Ossining, New York.
- #046
Peter Falk's distinctive squint resulted from a tumor in his left eye when he was 3 years old and the placement of a glass eye in place of the eye.
- #047
On 6 May 2020, Peter Falk was honored with the Sketch of the Day cartoon on the Star Portraits website.
- #048
Peter Falk underwent a series of major dental surgeries (2007).
- #049
When Peter Falk decided to become an actor in his late 20s, he was working as an efficiency expert in New York, and Broadway opened the way to Hollywood.
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