Gilbert O`Sullivan - IS IT A CRIME ? - A tribute to ` Columbo` star PETER FALK video free download

It was with great sadness that I just heard about the death of the actor Peter Falk at the age of 83 . His TV show COLUMBO was part of my youth - great memories of watching him every week with my dad - also no longer here . Of all the TV detectives , he was my favourite . Peter was a great actor who did much more than Columbo during his long career - but this is how I will always remember him .

The music is from Gilbert`s 1982 album ` Life and Rhymes ` .

.BREAKING NEWS -

Just one last thing - Columbo telly legend Peter Falk dies aged 83 after battle with dementia

Jun 25 2011

ACTOR Peter Falk who played dishevelled detective Columbo has died aged 83.

The twice Oscar-nominated actor, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia, passed away on Thursday night at his Beverly Hills home.

Falk's role as Lieutenant Columbo, which spanned 30 years of prime-time TV, began in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series.

Columbo, whose catchphrase was "Just one more thing", became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, outshining McCloud and McMillan And Wife.

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie for the role - and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert Columbo into a weekly series.

He declined, stating that performing in a weekly detective series did not appeal to him.

Cigar-chomping Columbo - whose elusive first name is revealed as Frank in the episode Dead Weight - presented a stark contrast to slick TV detectives.

Nibbled Falk once said: "He looks like a flood victim. You feel sorry for him.

"He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevellment, a good mind is at work."

In his memoir, Just One More Thing, Falk summed up the character perfectly: "Being chased by Columbo is like being nibbled to death by a duck."

Us network NBC cancelled the show in 1977 but in 1989 rivals ABC offered Columbo in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season.

The movies continued into the 21st century and Columbo appeared in 26 countries.

Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had bought for himself. After 25 years on TV, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, New York, where his parents ran a clothing store.

At three, he had one eye removed because of cancer.

He said in a 1963 interview: "You learn to live with it.

"It became the joke of the neighbourhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him: "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye."

Years later, Columbia Studios chief Harry Cohn was said to have rejected Falk, declaring: "For the same money, I can get an actor with two eyes!" Falk was nominated for Oscars for Murder, Inc in 1960 and Pocketful Of Miracles the following year - and collected five Emmys.

He made his film debut in 1958 with Wind Across The Everglades and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in Murder, Inc.

Among his other movies were It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin And The Seven Hoods, The Great Race, Luv, Castle Keep, The Cheap Detective, The Brinks Job and The In-Laws.

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960 and they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine. The couple divorced in 1976 and, the following year, he married actress Shera Danese.

They filed for divorce twice but reconciled each time.

Falk is survived by Shera and his two daughters.