Famous Lt. Columbo dies

Peter Falk, 83, the raspy-voiced actor who won four Emmy Awards as the deceptively rumpled homicide detective Lt. Columbo, a character he played on television over a 35-year span, died June 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a family statement. He had Alzheimer’s disease, the Washington Post informs.

Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his father owned a clothing store.

At age 3, his right eye was removed because of a cancerous growth, and he was given a glass eye. The eye supplied him with fodder for the colorful stories he liked to tell, including how it ended up in the mouth of a Pekingese and in the glass of gin that jazz pianist Art Tatum had been drinking.

At 12, he appeared in a stage production of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta “The Pirates of Penzance,” which sparked his early interest in acting.

Reflecting on his career, Mr. Falk told the New York Times in 1990: “Never have thought about setting goals — so I never had to worry about achieving them. My career just sort of happened. And as a strategy? It hasn’t worked out all that badly.”