Art News

Actor Peter Falk, TV’s Rumpled Columbo and an Artist in His Own Right, has Died

NEW YORK (AP).- The best way to celebrate Peter Falk’s life is to savor how Columbo, his signature character, fortified our lives. Thanks to Falk’s affectionately genuine portrayal, Lt. Columbo established himself for all time as a champion of any viewer who ever felt less than graceful, elegant or well-spoken. Falk died Thursday at age 83 in his Beverly Hills, Calif., home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson. But Columbo lives on as the shining ideal of anyone with a smudge on his tie, whose car isn’t the sportiest, who often seems clueless, who gets dissed by fancy people. As a police detective, Columbo’s interview technique was famously disjointed, with his inevitable awkward afterthought (“Ahhh, there’s just one more thing…”) that tried the patience of his suspect as he was halfway out the door. Columbo was underestimated