skippy the bush kangaroo: just one more thing...

Friday, June 24, 2011

just one more thing...

rest in peace, one of the premiere actors of his or any other generation and an iconic addition to police fiction, peter falk:

peter falk became synonymous with one of tv's most enduring franchises with his role as the disheveled and disarming lt. columbo. but his long thesping career encompassed everything from john cassavetes' intense indie dramas to the broadway stage to hollywood hits including "the great race," "the in-laws" and "the princess bride."

falk, who had suffered from alzheimer's disease and dementia in recent years, died thursday evening at his home in beverly hills. he was 83.

falk earned four emmys for his role as the rumpled los angeles police detective who famously never disclosed his first name. in the "columbo" telepics that universal tv produced for nbc and later abc from the early 1970s on and off through the early 2000s, lt. columbo was always assigned high-profile homicide cases involving l.a.'s rich and famous.

falk was a favorite co-conspirator of auteur john cassavetes as well as one of the funniest men to hit the big screen. his creation of lt. columbo, which he claimed he based on the detective from crime and punishment, was a radical departure from the then-current crop of gun-slinging rough and tough cops, in that he zeroed in on a suspect with logic, and never let go once convinced of guilt.

we will miss him greatly. rest in peace, peter falk.

posted by skippy at 4:31 PM |