Peter Falk

Name: Peter Falk
Date of Birth: September 16, 1927
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA

Mini-bio: Peter Michael Falk is an American actor of Jewish descent. He was born in New York City, the son of Michael Falk and Madeline Hauser Falk. Falk is a descendent of Miksa Falk, who was the editor of the...( read more) liberal Hungarian newspaper, the Pester Lloyd. After deciding to be an actor and studying at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, in 1956 at the age of 29, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village. He made his professional debut Off Broadway in Molière's Don Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre on January 3, 1956, and the same year his Broadway debut playing an English soldier in Shaw's Saint Joan with Siobhán McKenna. He won an Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes", a Dick Powell Theater TV drama.

He is best known for the title role in the long-running TV series Columbo, a shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective. In reality Columbo possessed a keen mind and invariably solved his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in a suspect's story, hounding them until they confessed; he merely put on a good show of being dim-witted so that the criminals and even his colleagues would be more at ease around him. Columbo's signature technique was to exit the scene of an interview, only to stop in the doorway to ask a suspect "just one more thing" (the title of his recent memoir), which always brought to light the key inconsistency. The role won him five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.

Falk is also known for his roles in several films, including his performance as a possible ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the Arthur Hiller comedy The In-Laws. He also starred in two films directed by friend John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence, (opposite Gena Rowlands) and Husbands (with Cassavetes and Ben Gazzara) and in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.

Falk has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award twice, for Murder, Inc., and Pocketful of Miracles.

Falk wears an ocular prosthetic ("glass eye"). His right eye was surgically removed at the age of three because of a malignant tumor.

Falk is also an artist and has had several gallery shows and exhibits. He started to draw as a way to pass time while filming on location.

He married Alice Mayo on April 17, 1960 and has two daughters, Catherine (who is a real life private investigator) and Jackie. They were divorced in 1976 and on December 7, 1977 he married Shera

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Peter Falk mini-bio: Peter Michael Falk is an American actor of Jewish descent. He was born in New York City, the son of Michael Falk and Madeline Hauser Falk. Falk is a descendent of Miksa Falk, who was the editor of the liberal Hungarian newspaper, the Pester Lloyd. After deciding to be an actor and studying at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, in 1956 at the age of 29, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village. He made his professional debut Off Broadway in Molière's Don Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre on January 3, 1956, and the same year his Broadway debut playing an English soldier in Shaw's Saint Joan with Siobhán McKenna. He won an Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes", a Dick Powell Theater TV drama.

He is best known for the title role in the long-running TV series Columbo, a shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective. In reality Columbo possessed a keen mind and invariably solved his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in a suspect's story, hounding them until they confessed; he merely put on a good show of being dim-witted so that the criminals and even his colleagues would be more at ease around him. Columbo's signature technique was to exit the scene of an interview, only to stop in the doorway to ask a suspect "just one more thing" (the title of his recent memoir), which always brought to light the key inconsistency. The role won him five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.

Falk is also known for his roles in several films, including his performance as a possible ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the Arthur Hiller comedy The In-Laws. He also starred in two films directed by friend John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence, (opposite Gena Rowlands) and Husbands (with Cassavetes and Ben Gazzara) and in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire. Falk has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award twice, for Murder, Inc., and Pocketful of Miracles. Falk wears an ocular prosthetic ("glass eye"). His right eye was surgically removed at the age of three because of a malignant tumor.

Falk is also an artist and has had several gallery shows and exhibits. He started to draw as a way to pass time while filming on location. He married Alice Mayo on April 17, 1960 and has two daughters, Catherine (who is a real life private investigator) and Jackie. They were divorced in 1976 and on December 7, 1977 he married Shera

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Last update: Aug 13 2008, 11:40 AM EDT by ed (content history | content tools) (help)

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obralan

i hope mr falk is alright. i saw some rather disconcerting photos of him in the italian press which also suggested that he had been wandering around beverly hills in a rather confused state.the cops took him in apparently, but mr falk refused offers of assistance.
http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/gallerie/gente/peter-falk/2.html

posted 577 days ago
01MovieMan

I don't believe he was born in 1927
I met him in the 1980s while we were picketing in Manhattan almost near Times Square.
He said we were crazy for picketing
We had no choice, picket or pay a fine

posted 582 days ago
countrycorner1

What a great role of Columbo

posted 711 days ago
elliandris

i grew up on Murder, She Wrote and Columbo...
I agree, "just one more thing" :)
% stars from me!
*<):O)

posted 767 days ago
derrykidd

Columbo is the man, "just one more thing" hee hee love him.

posted 968 days ago
serellie

When I was younger, me and my family would get up at just before 6 on Thursdays, make a big breakfast and watch Columbo on A&E. God I love that show!

posted 1003 days ago
TheDemonHunter

Columbo is the best detective series around!

posted 1049 days ago

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Peter Falk Movies

American Cowslip (Unrated, 2009)
Three Days to Vegas (Retirement) (PG-13, 2007)
The Thing About My Folks (PG-13, 2005)
Checking Out (PG-13, 2005)
When Angels Come to Town (PG, 2004)
Shark Tale (PG, 2004)
Wilder Days (Unrated, 2003)
Finding John Christmas (Unrated, 2003)
Enemies of Laughter (Unrated, 2003)
Columbo: Columbo Likes the Nightlife (Unrated, 2003)

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Peter Falk Trivia

What old movie classic stars Bette Davis as a drunken, street person, Glenn Ford as a gangster and Peter Falk as his right hand man? Answer »
Name the movie with the following actors: Michael Imperioli Angelina Jolie Will Smith Peter Falk Ziggy Marley Renée Zellweger Jack Black Frank Vincent Robert DeNiro Answer »
Which movie stars Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk? Answer »
Who narrated The Princess Bride? Answer »

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