Shabby raincoat and all, Columbo became one of TV’s most unforgettable detectives. Just when viewers thought a culprit might slip away, the cigar-wielding sleuth would return with “one more thing” — the tiny detail that cracked the case. The show dominated prime-time in the 1970s and continued airing intermittently from the late ’80s until 2003.
Unlike earlier TV detectives who seemed slick and elite, Columbo flipped the script. He was a sharp but rumpled working-class homicide cop who consistently outsmarted wealthy, influential criminals. His popularity made him a global household name and earned actor Peter Falk four Emmy Awards.
But Falk’s life wasn’t all acclaim. According to Richard Lertzman and William Birnes, authors of Beyond Columbo, the actor had a darker side. They describe him as a heavy drinker and smoker, a womanizer, and often an inattentive husband and father.
Falk lost his right eye to retinoblastoma at age three and wore a prosthetic for the rest of his life, which contributed to his trademark squint. Even so, he played baseball and basketball growing up. He once recalled joking with an umpire by handing him his glass eye after an angry call on the field.
Falk’s career took off with Murder, Inc. in 1960, earning him an Academy Award nomination, followed by another for Pocketful of Miracles the next year. Widely considered one of his era’s great stars, he eventually became TV’s highest-paid actor, earning about $250,000 per Columbo episode.
