Falk was most closely identified as the television detective Columbo, which he played for decades, but he had a lengthy career on television and in film for years before then.
He holds a fond place in my heart as he appears in my favorite movie of all time - The Great Race. As Max, he was the comic stooge to Jack Lemmon's Professor Fate, prompting such wonderful lines as "The Great Leslie escaped with a chicken?" and "Push the button, Max."
Falk was nominated for multiple Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes and even won a few. His other memorable movie roles include those in Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The In-Laws, Robin and the Seven Hoods, The Brinks Job, The Princess Bride and Wings of Desire.
For all that, it still comes back to Columbo, which despite what might be thought was not actually even a TV series. It was part of NBC's "Sunday Mystery Movie," which alternated originally with "McCloud" and MacMillan and Wife" in the two-hour time slot every Sunday night. Peter Falk wore the dirty raincoat and asked suspects "just one more thing" in one form or another for over thirty years. We have lost one of the great ones. Peter Falk, we'll miss you.
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