From TV Legend to Tragic Decline: The Real Story of ‘Columbo’ Star Peter Falk
The rumpled, raincoat-wearing detective “Columbo” remains one of the most iconic television sleuths of all time. He kept viewers on the edge of their seats, always circling back with “just one more thing” at the exact moment it seemed the villain might get away.
The show dominated prime-time television throughout the 1970s and continued appearing periodically from the late 1980s until 2003.
While TV detectives were traditionally portrayed as polished intellects effortlessly outsmarting criminals, Columbo flipped the formula. He was a sharp-minded yet disheveled, working-class homicide detective who consistently outwitted wealthy, influential culprits who underestimated him.
The beloved character became a global household name, earning actor Peter Falk four Emmy Awards for his portrayal.
But behind the fame, authors Richard Lertzman and William Birnes claim there was a different side to Falk, outlined in their biography Beyond Columbo.
According to the writers, the book explores Falk’s personal life, career legacy, and inner world.
“He drank and smoked constantly, enjoyed late nights with friends, and was a habitual womanizer. He was a neglectful husband and largely absent father,” they wrote.
Marriage
When Falk was just three, doctors removed his right eye due to retinoblastoma. He wore a glass prosthetic for most of his life, giving him the signature squint fans instantly recognized.
Despite this, he grew up active in team sports like baseball and basketball.
In a 1997 interview with Cigar Aficionado, Falk recounted a humorous high school memory: “The umpire called me out at third when I knew I was safe. I got so mad I took out my glass eye, handed it to him, and said, ‘Try this.’ People laughed more than you’d believe.”
Falk’s breakthrough came in 1960 with the gangster film Murder, Inc. His performance as the brutal killer Abe Reles earned him an Academy Award nomination.
The following year, he starred opposite Bette Davis in Pocketful of Miracles and received another Oscar nomination.
Many consider him one of the great stars of his era. With a salary of about $250,000 per Columbo episode, he was also the highest-paid TV actor of the time.
But his personal life was much more complicated.
In 1960, Falk married his college sweetheart, Alyce Mayo. They met at Syracuse University, where both were students, and dated for 12 years before marrying on April 17, 1960.
Alyce, a designer by profession, reportedly overlooked her husband’s infidelity for many years before finally reaching her limit after 16 years of marriage.
Together, they adopted two daughters: Catherine and Jackie. Jackie occasionally appeared with her father at events but later withdrew from public life.
Catherine, who became a private investigator, had a strained relationship with Falk. She even sued him at one point, claiming he stopped paying her college expenses.
“I think most people see me as some money-hungry daughter going after my dad,” she told Inside Edition in 2011.
Catherine said her relationship with Falk worsened after he married actress Shera Danese.
“My father was married to a woman who made it hard for him to feel free. We weren’t allowed to go to his house,” she claimed.
The tension between Catherine and Shera would only escalate from there.
Peter Falk’s cause of death
Tragically, the New York–born actor with the trademark squint died in June 2011 after battling Alzheimer’s disease. His death was primarily attributed to pneumonia, worsened by complications of Alzheimer’s.
According to his physician, Stephen Read, Falk’s dementia rapidly progressed after hip surgery in 2008, and eventually he no longer remembered ever playing the world-famous detective Columbo.
Falk had also battled retinoblastoma as a child, losing his eye at age three. One agent even told him early in his career not to expect much acting work because of it.
Peter Falk passed away peacefully at his Beverly Hills home at 83. Tributes poured in from around the world. Steven Spielberg honored him with the words: “At that early stage of my career, I learned more about acting from him than from anyone else.”
His daughters said they would always remember his “wisdom and humor.” But according to Catherine, she wasn’t allowed to say goodbye. In her Inside Edition interview, she claimed she had been kept away from her father during his final years and didn’t learn of his death until hours after it happened.
She accused his wife Shera of many things — accusations Shera’s attorney, Troy Martin, strongly denied.
“Peter’s final resting place is about Peter, not Catherine, his estranged adopted daughter,” he said.
A remarkable talent lost to a heartbreaking disease. Peter Falk captivated millions worldwide with his unforgettable portrayal of a seemingly scatterbrained detective hiding a brilliant mind.
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