View allAll Photos Tagged peterfalk
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is the California Incline in Santa Monica. It has shown up in many, many films.
Many of these homes still stand 46 years later.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is on PCH near the California Incline in Santa Monica.
Chinese postcard. Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk in A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974).
American actress Gena Rowlands (1930-2024) played roles in theatre, television series and the cinema. She was nominated for an Oscar for her roles inA Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both directed by her husband, John Cassavetes.
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
The setting for Santa Rosita Beach is currently a private residence in Palos Verdes at the Portuguese Bend.
This is Palos Verdes Drive South, which I doubt was there in '63.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
The stairs that Spencer Tracy climbs is in the alley on Broadway in Long Beach. I think someone lives in there.
Polaroid SX-70 photograph.
Peter Falk at the premiere of Bette Midler's movie THE ROSE, 11/7/79 - Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is looking down Pine Ave at Ocean in Long Beach. Notice the old Rainbow Pier in the screen grab.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This alley where the film is about to climax is on Broadway in Long Beach.
Director Mark Rydell and Peter Falk talk to a young girl at the premiere of Bette Midler's movie THE ROSE, 11/7/79 - Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can
Here I've made the famous detective series look even older than it is . . . Columbo was actually filmed in colour (see Kennuth's photostream).
Peck Park in San Pedro was the location used for the parking lot and entrance for the Santa Rosita State Beach in the 1963 comedy "IAMMMMW". Thanks to DZaitz for this info.
The archway at this site was a fake set built to resemble the real archway in Palos Verdes, which was the site used for the actual park with the big "W".
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is Ocean Blvd at Pine Ave in Long Beach.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is on 1st Street in Long Beach. This street is now for trains and busses only.
The 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (top) was shot all over the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. These are a few locations that I have managed to capture.
This is the California Incline in Santa Monica. It has shown up in many, many films.
The stairs that Spencer Tracy climbs to escape the gaggle of all-star comics is in an alley off Broadway in downtown Long Beach.
The entrance to the fictitious Santa Rosita Beach is now a private residence on Palos Verdes Drive South in...Palos Verdes.
Vintage postcard. Fred Savage and Peter Falk in The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987).
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York in 1927. He was the son of a Polish-Hungarian-Czech father, Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and a Russian mother, Madeline (née Hochhauser). Both his parents were Jewish. At the age of three, Falk was diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye, which was surgically removed along with his right eye. Afterwards, Falk wore a glass eye. This resulted in the characteristic uneven width of his eyelid. In high school, the young man was considered athletic and graduated with excellent grades. He gained his first stage experience at the age of twelve, when he appeared in the play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. After finishing school, Falk was initially lost. He attended college for a short time, applied to join the Navy, but was rejected because of his glass eye. At the end of World War II, he spent 18 months at sea as a cook in the Merchant Marines. After the war, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. Eventually, Falk took a job with a tax authority in Hartford, Connecticut. After work, he acted in an amateur theatre group and gained further stage experience. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1955, he obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Gallienne to an agent at the William Morris Agency, and he returned to New York City. He acted in off-Broadway plays, including a revival of 'The Iceman Cometh' directed by Jose Quintero, with Jason Robards playing the lead role of Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman, and small television productions. In 1956, Falk made his Broadway debut in Alexander Ostrovsky's 'Diary of a Scoundrel'. He appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's 'Saint Joan' with Siobhán McKenna. His first film engagement with Columbia Pictures again fell through due to his 'disability,' his glass eye. Studio head Harry Cohn remarked laconically: "For the same salary, I can get an actor with two eyes." In 1958, Falk finally landed his first small film roles in Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958), the Canadian thriller The Bloody Brood (Julian Ruffman, 1959), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Herbert J. Leder, 1960), a biopic based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd. He played his first major role, the brutal hitman Abe Reles, in the crime film Murder Inc. (Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg, 1960). This was a turning point. The following year, he played 'Joy Boy' in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961). In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc. and the television program The Law and Mr. Jones. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in Pocketful of Miracles and best actor in 'The Price of Tomatoes,' an episode of The Dick Powell Show, for which he took home the award. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films, including major hits such as the star-studded comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963), with Spencer Tracy, and opposite Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack members in Robin and the Seven Hoods (Gordon Douglas, 1964). He also acted in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play 'The Balcony', also starring Shelley Winters, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. Falk continued to act in the theatre. His first role in a television series was in The Trials of O'Brien (1965-1966), which he co-produced. Despite good reviews, the stories of a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries didn't really resonate with audiences and only ran for 22 episodes.
In 1968, Peter Falk first appeared in the role with which he would become identified: the scruffy, always-clad-in-a-grimy-raincoat, and seemingly slow-witted Detective Columbo. In the TV Movie Murder by Recipe (1968), Falk played Lieutenant Columbo (later Inspector Columbo). Thanks to the success of this television film, a pilot for a series was produced in the fall of 1970. Columbo began as a series in September 1971. Till 1978, 43 episodes of the series were produced for NBC – an average of six per year. Falk tailored the role to himself – with his small stature (1.68 m), his raincoat, his old Peugeot 403 convertible (both props Falk chose himself, over the heads of the producers), his basset hound, who was simply called 'Dog,' his slight speech impediment, and the consistently crooked posture the inspector assumed when asking the perpetrator the very last, incriminating question. Columbo is now considered one of the classic TV series which has been continuously rerun for decades. Columbo viewers always know who the killer is from the very first minutes of each episode. Columbo solves his murder cases by highlighting small inconsistencies in the suspect's story and by persistently pursuing the perpetrator until they confess. Columbo's interrogation technique, in particular, became legendary: at the end of a conversation, Columbo would walk away only to suddenly return: "Oh, just one more thing," or "Oh, I almost forgot," after which the suspect is pointed out an inconsistency. The intriguing look Columbo cast on his victims at such moments was partly due to his (right) prosthetic eye. Peter Falk remained faithful to his role as Columbo for over 35 years, receiving four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe during that time. The first-season episode 'Blueprint for Murder' was directed by Falk himself. In 1977, Peter Falk married actress Shera Danese, who starred in the Columbo episodes 'Fade into Murder' (with William Shatner) and 'Murder under Glass' (directed by Jonathan Demme). At the end of the 1980s, the Columbo series returned with a new series, for which Falk regularly produced episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for one of them, 'It's All in the Game' (1993). The last episode premiered in late 2003. Over the course of 35 years, Columbo solved a total of 69 cases.
During and after his work on Columbo, Peter Falk also appeared in many feature films and other television series. He starred in the crime comedy The Brink's Job (William Friedkin, 1978) and with Alan Arkin in the action-comedy The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979). He starred opposite Ann-Margret in the mystery comedy The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978), played the grandfather in the fantasy The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987), and appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters. He also played the role of Sam Diamond in the comedy Murder by Death (Robert Moore, 1976) and appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). Remarkable is his collaboration with filmmaker and friend John Cassavetes, first in Husbands (1970), then in A Woman under the Influence (1974) and, finally, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night (1977). Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode 'Étude in Black' in 1972. Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's film Mikey and Nicky (1976). In 1987, film director Wim Wenders brought the American to Germany. Falk played himself (the actor Peter Falk) in Wenders's romantic fantasy Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Falk returned in the sequel, Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993). He lent his voice to Don Feinberg in Shark Tale (Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, 2004), and his final film was the comedy American Cowslip (Mark David, 2009). Peter Falk was married twice. In 1960, he married his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer and pianist Alyce Mayo, with whom he had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, both adopted. In 1977, Falk separated from his wife and married actress Shera Danese, 22 years his junior, with whom he lived until his death. Falk's autobiography, 'Just One More Thing', was published in 2006. At the end of 2008, Falk's daughter, Catherine, petitioned the Los Angeles court for a conservatorship of her father. She argued that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that his dementia made him vulnerable to abuse by scammers and fraudsters. He required constant care following recent hip surgery. In 2011, Falk's immediate family announced in a written statement to the press that the actor had died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills. Peter Falk was 83. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, with Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia as underlying causes. Falk is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads: "I'm not here. I'm home with Shera." In 2013, Falk posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia (English, German and Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York in 1927. He was the son of a Polish-Hungarian-Czech father, Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and a Russian mother, Madeline (née Hochhauser). Both his parents were Jewish. At the age of three, Falk was diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye, which was surgically removed along with his right eye. Afterwards, Falk wore a glass eye. This resulted in the characteristic uneven width of his eyelid. In high school, the young man was considered athletic and graduated with excellent grades. He gained his first stage experience at the age of twelve, when he appeared in the play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. After finishing school, Falk was initially lost. He attended college for a short time, applied to join the Navy, but was rejected because of his glass eye. At the end of World War II, he spent 18 months at sea as a cook in the Merchant Marines. After the war, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. Eventually, Falk took a job with a tax authority in Hartford, Connecticut. After work, he acted in an amateur theatre group and gained further stage experience. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1955, he obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Gallienne to an agent at the William Morris Agency, and he returned to New York City. He acted in off-Broadway plays, including a revival of 'The Iceman Cometh' directed by Jose Quintero, with Jason Robards playing the lead role of Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman, and small television productions. In 1956, Falk made his Broadway debut in Alexander Ostrovsky's 'Diary of a Scoundrel'. He appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's 'Saint Joan' with Siobhán McKenna. His first film engagement with Columbia Pictures again fell through due to his 'disability,' his glass eye. Studio head Harry Cohn remarked laconically: "For the same salary, I can get an actor with two eyes." In 1958, Falk finally landed his first small film roles in Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958), the Canadian thriller The Bloody Brood (Julian Ruffman, 1959), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Herbert J. Leder, 1960), a biopic based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd. He played his first major role, the brutal hitman Abe Reles, in the crime film Murder Inc. (Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg, 1960). This was a turning point. The following year, he played 'Joy Boy' in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961). In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc. and the television program The Law and Mr. Jones. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in Pocketful of Miracles and best actor in 'The Price of Tomatoes,' an episode of The Dick Powell Show, for which he took home the award. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films, including major hits such as the star-studded comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963), with Spencer Tracy, and opposite Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack members in Robin and the Seven Hoods (Gordon Douglas, 1964). He also acted in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play 'The Balcony', also starring Shelley Winters, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. Falk continued to act in the theatre. His first role in a television series was in The Trials of O'Brien (1965-1966), which he co-produced. Despite good reviews, the stories of a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries didn't really resonate with audiences and only ran for 22 episodes.
In 1968, Peter Falk first appeared in the role with which he would become identified: the scruffy, always-clad-in-a-grimy-raincoat, and seemingly slow-witted Detective Columbo. In the TV Movie Murder by Recipe (1968), Falk played Lieutenant Columbo (later Inspector Columbo). Thanks to the success of this television film, a pilot for a series was produced in the fall of 1970. Columbo began as a series in September 1971. Till 1978, 43 episodes of the series were produced for NBC – an average of six per year. Falk tailored the role to himself – with his small stature (1.68 m), his raincoat, his old Peugeot 403 convertible (both props Falk chose himself, over the heads of the producers), his basset hound, who was simply called 'Dog,' his slight speech impediment, and the consistently crooked posture the inspector assumed when asking the perpetrator the very last, incriminating question. Columbo is now considered one of the classic TV series which has been continuously rerun for decades. Columbo viewers always know who the killer is from the very first minutes of each episode. Columbo solves his murder cases by highlighting small inconsistencies in the suspect's story and by persistently pursuing the perpetrator until they confess. Columbo's interrogation technique, in particular, became legendary: at the end of a conversation, Columbo would walk away only to suddenly return: "Oh, just one more thing," or "Oh, I almost forgot," after which the suspect is pointed out an inconsistency. The intriguing look Columbo cast on his victims at such moments was partly due to his (right) prosthetic eye. Peter Falk remained faithful to his role as Columbo for over 35 years, receiving four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe during that time. The first-season episode 'Blueprint for Murder' was directed by Falk himself. In 1977, Peter Falk married actress Shera Danese, who starred in the Columbo episodes 'Fade into Murder' (with William Shatner) and 'Murder under Glass' (directed by Jonathan Demme). At the end of the 1980s, the Columbo series returned with a new series, for which Falk regularly produced episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for one of them, 'It's All in the Game' (1993). The last episode premiered in late 2003. Over the course of 35 years, Columbo solved a total of 69 cases.
During and after his work on Columbo, Peter Falk also appeared in many feature films and other television series. He starred in the crime comedy The Brink's Job (William Friedkin, 1978) and with Alan Arkin in the action-comedy The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979). He starred opposite Ann-Margret in the mystery comedy The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978), played the grandfather in the fantasy The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987), and appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters. He also played the role of Sam Diamond in the comedy Murder by Death (Robert Moore, 1976) and appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). Remarkable is his collaboration with filmmaker and friend John Cassavetes, first in Husbands (1970), then in A Woman under the Influence (1974) and, finally, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night (1977). Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode 'Étude in Black' in 1972. Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's film Mikey and Nicky (1976). In 1987, film director Wim Wenders brought the American to Germany. Falk played himself (the actor Peter Falk) in Wenders's romantic fantasy Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Falk returned in the sequel, Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993). He lent his voice to Don Feinberg in Shark Tale (Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, 2004), and his final film was the comedy American Cowslip (Mark David, 2009). Peter Falk was married twice. In 1960, he married his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer and pianist Alyce Mayo, with whom he had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, both adopted. In 1977, Falk separated from his wife and married actress Shera Danese, 22 years his junior, with whom he lived until his death. Falk's autobiography, 'Just One More Thing', was published in 2006. At the end of 2008, Falk's daughter, Catherine, petitioned the Los Angeles court for a conservatorship of her father. She argued that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that his dementia made him vulnerable to abuse by scammers and fraudsters. He required constant care following recent hip surgery. In 2011, Falk's immediate family announced in a written statement to the press that the actor had died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills. Peter Falk was 83. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, with Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia as underlying causes. Falk is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads: "I'm not here. I'm home with Shera." In 2013, Falk posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia (English, German and Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Peck Park in San Pedro was the location used for the parking lot and entrance for the Santa Rosita State Beach in the 1963 comedy "IAMMMMW". Thanks to DZaitz for this info.
A fake archway was built here to resemble the real archway in Palos Verdes, which was the site used for the actual park with the big "W".
"Maggie Smith", "Travels with My Aunt", acrylic on canvas, by Fin Collins, part of The Film Icons collection www.filmiconsgallery.com/
acting website www.irishfilmactress.com/
Peck Park in San Pedro was the location used for the parking lot and entrance for the Santa Rosita State Beach in the 1963 comedy "IAMMMMW" (top). Thanks to DZaitz for this info.
A fake archway was built here to resemble the real archway in Palos Verdes, which was the site used for the actual park with the big "W".
We have known you for so many decades, we have loved you for such a long time, your french voice makes part of our familiar voice, your own voice too thanks to your numerous movies...... Rest in Peace with your friends John Cassavetes and all the others.............
We have loved you and we still do.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Falk
Trouvé sur internet - article signé "W"
L'acteur, immortalisé par son imperméable élimé et sa célèbre phrase « Juste une dernière chose... », est décédé jeudi à l'âge de 83 ans. S'il souffrait de la maladie d'Alzheimer depuis de nombreuses années, la cause officielle de la mort n'a cependant pas été précisée.
La famille a publié un communiqué, diffusé par plusieurs médias américains, déclarant que « Peter Falk est mort dans sa maison de Beverly Hills (ouest de Los Angeles) dans la soirée du 23 juin 2011 ».
La mise sous curatelle de Peter Falk avait donné lieu en 2009 à une bataille judiciaire entre sa femme, Sheva et sa fille adoptive, Catherine Falk.
Cette dernière assurait que son père devait être protégé « d'influences néfastes » et réclamait le rôle de curatrice.
Shera Falk s'opposait à une mise sous curatelle, mais avait demandé le cas échéant d'être nommée elle-même curatrice.
Finalement, la curatelle avait été accordée à l'épouse, tandis que Catherine Falk avait bénéficié d'un droit de visite tous les deux mois.
Un expert médical appelé à témoigner lors des audiences avait assuré que Peter Falk ne se souvenait plus d'avoir joué dans « Columbo ».
Acteur fétiche
de John Cassavetes
L'acteur a incarné le lieutenant Columbo dans quelque 70 téléfilms diffusés entre 1968 et 2003. Mais il avait déjà une longue carrière derrière lui avant d'enfiler le fameux imperméable.
Il fut notamment nommé coup sur coup aux Oscars dans la catégorie du meilleur second rôle, en 1961 pour « Crime, société anonyme » de Burt Balaban, et l'année suivante pour « Milliardaire d'un jour » de Frank Capra, où il partageait l'affiche avec Bette Davis. Mais il ne remporta jamais la précieuse statuette.
Né le 16 septembre 1927 à New York, Peter Falk était devenu borgne à l'âge de trois ans des suites d'un cancer et avait commencé à travailler à la télévision en 1957.
Il fut aussi l'un des acteurs fétiches de John Cassavetes, avec qui il a tourné six films.
Le comédien Serge Sauvion, qui prêta sa voix éraillée à « Columbo » dans la version française, s'est éteint lui aussi, en février 2010.
Il avait eu l'occasion de rencontrer Peter Falk et avait qualifié sa collaboration avec lui de « mariage heureux ».
w
French postcard by Polygram Collections, 2005. Photo: Universal Studio. Postcard to promote the DVD release of L'Intégrale de Colombo - La Collection officielle.
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York in 1927. He was the son of a Polish-Hungarian-Czech father, Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and a Russian mother, Madeline (née Hochhauser). Both his parents were Jewish. At the age of three, Falk was diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye, which was surgically removed along with his right eye. Afterwards, Falk wore a glass eye. This resulted in the characteristic uneven width of his eyelid. In high school, the young man was considered athletic and graduated with excellent grades. He gained his first stage experience at the age of twelve, when he appeared in the play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. After finishing school, Falk was initially lost. He attended college for a short time, applied to join the Navy, but was rejected because of his glass eye. At the end of World War II, he spent 18 months at sea as a cook in the Merchant Marines. After the war, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. Eventually, Falk took a job with a tax authority in Hartford, Connecticut. After work, he acted in an amateur theatre group and gained further stage experience. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1955, he obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Gallienne to an agent at the William Morris Agency, and he returned to New York City. He acted in off-Broadway plays, including a revival of 'The Iceman Cometh' directed by Jose Quintero, with Jason Robards playing the lead role of Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman, and small television productions. In 1956, Falk made his Broadway debut in Alexander Ostrovsky's 'Diary of a Scoundrel'. He appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's 'Saint Joan' with Siobhán McKenna. His first film engagement with Columbia Pictures again fell through due to his 'disability,' his glass eye. Studio head Harry Cohn remarked laconically: "For the same salary, I can get an actor with two eyes." In 1958, Falk finally landed his first small film roles in Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958), the Canadian thriller The Bloody Brood (Julian Ruffman, 1959), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Herbert J. Leder, 1960), a biopic based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd. He played his first major role, the brutal hitman Abe Reles, in the crime film Murder Inc. (Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg, 1960). This was a turning point. The following year, he played 'Joy Boy' in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961). In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc. and the television program The Law and Mr. Jones. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in Pocketful of Miracles and best actor in 'The Price of Tomatoes,' an episode of The Dick Powell Show, for which he took home the award. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films, including major hits such as the star-studded comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963), with Spencer Tracy, and opposite Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack members in Robin and the Seven Hoods (Gordon Douglas, 1964). He also acted in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play 'The Balcony', also starring Shelley Winters, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. Falk continued to act in the theatre. His first role in a television series was in The Trials of O'Brien (1965-1966), which he co-produced. Despite good reviews, the stories of a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries didn't really resonate with audiences and only ran for 22 episodes.
In 1968, Peter Falk first appeared in the role with which he would become identified: the scruffy, always-clad-in-a-grimy-raincoat, and seemingly slow-witted Detective Columbo. In the TV Movie Murder by Recipe (1968), Falk played Lieutenant Columbo (later Inspector Columbo). Thanks to the success of this television film, a pilot for a series was produced in the fall of 1970. Columbo began as a series in September 1971. Till 1978, 43 episodes of the series were produced for NBC – an average of six per year. Falk tailored the role to himself – with his small stature (1.68 m), his raincoat, his old Peugeot 403 convertible (both props Falk chose himself, over the heads of the producers), his basset hound, who was simply called 'Dog,' his slight speech impediment, and the consistently crooked posture the inspector assumed when asking the perpetrator the very last, incriminating question. Columbo is now considered one of the classic TV series which has been continuously rerun for decades. Columbo viewers always know who the killer is from the very first minutes of each episode. Columbo solves his murder cases by highlighting small inconsistencies in the suspect's story and by persistently pursuing the perpetrator until they confess. Columbo's interrogation technique, in particular, became legendary: at the end of a conversation, Columbo would walk away only to suddenly return: "Oh, just one more thing," or "Oh, I almost forgot," after which the suspect is pointed out an inconsistency. The intriguing look Columbo cast on his victims at such moments was partly due to his (right) prosthetic eye. Peter Falk remained faithful to his role as Columbo for over 35 years, receiving four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe during that time. The first-season episode 'Blueprint for Murder' was directed by Falk himself. In 1977, Peter Falk married actress Shera Danese, who starred in the Columbo episodes 'Fade into Murder' (with William Shatner) and 'Murder under Glass' (directed by Jonathan Demme). At the end of the 1980s, the Columbo series returned with a new series, for which Falk regularly produced episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for one of them, 'It's All in the Game' (1993). The last episode premiered in late 2003. Over the course of 35 years, Columbo solved a total of 69 cases.
During and after his work on Columbo, Peter Falk also appeared in many feature films and other television series. He starred in the crime comedy The Brink's Job (William Friedkin, 1978) and with Alan Arkin in the action-comedy The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979). He starred opposite Ann-Margret in the mystery comedy The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978), played the grandfather in the fantasy The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987), and appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters. He also played the role of Sam Diamond in the comedy Murder by Death (Robert Moore, 1976) and appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). Remarkable is his collaboration with filmmaker and friend John Cassavetes, first in Husbands (1970), then in A Woman under the Influence (1974) and, finally, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night (1977). Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode 'Étude in Black' in 1972. Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's film Mikey and Nicky (1976). In 1987, film director Wim Wenders brought the American to Germany. Falk played himself (the actor Peter Falk) in Wenders's romantic fantasy Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Falk returned in the sequel, Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993). He lent his voice to Don Feinberg in Shark Tale (Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, 2004), and his final film was the comedy American Cowslip (Mark David, 2009). Peter Falk was married twice. In 1960, he married his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer and pianist Alyce Mayo, with whom he had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, both adopted. In 1977, Falk separated from his wife and married actress Shera Danese, 22 years his junior, with whom he lived until his death. Falk's autobiography, 'Just One More Thing', was published in 2006. At the end of 2008, Falk's daughter, Catherine, petitioned the Los Angeles court for a conservatorship of her father. She argued that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that his dementia made him vulnerable to abuse by scammers and fraudsters. He required constant care following recent hip surgery. In 2011, Falk's immediate family announced in a written statement to the press that the actor had died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills. Peter Falk was 83. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, with Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia as underlying causes. Falk is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads: "I'm not here. I'm home with Shera." In 2013, Falk posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia (English, German and Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Vintage postcard. Peter Falk and John Cassavetes in Columbo: Étude In Black (Nicholas Colasanto, 1972).
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York in 1927. He was the son of a Polish-Hungarian-Czech father, Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and a Russian mother, Madeline (née Hochhauser). Both his parents were Jewish. At the age of three, Falk was diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye, which was surgically removed along with his right eye. Afterwards, Falk wore a glass eye. This resulted in the characteristic uneven width of his eyelid. In high school, the young man was considered athletic and graduated with excellent grades. He gained his first stage experience at the age of twelve, when he appeared in the play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. After finishing school, Falk was initially lost. He attended college for a short time, applied to join the Navy, but was rejected because of his glass eye. At the end of World War II, he spent 18 months at sea as a cook in the Merchant Marines. After the war, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. Eventually, Falk took a job with a tax authority in Hartford, Connecticut. After work, he acted in an amateur theatre group and gained further stage experience. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1955, he obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Gallienne to an agent at the William Morris Agency, and he returned to New York City. He acted in off-Broadway plays, including a revival of 'The Iceman Cometh' directed by Jose Quintero, with Jason Robards playing the lead role of Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman, and small television productions. In 1956, Falk made his Broadway debut in Alexander Ostrovsky's 'Diary of a Scoundrel'. He appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's 'Saint Joan' with Siobhán McKenna. His first film engagement with Columbia Pictures again fell through due to his 'disability,' his glass eye. Studio head Harry Cohn remarked laconically: "For the same salary, I can get an actor with two eyes." In 1958, Falk finally landed his first small film roles in Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958), the Canadian thriller The Bloody Brood (Julian Ruffman, 1959), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Herbert J. Leder, 1960), a biopic based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd. He played his first major role, the brutal hitman Abe Reles, in the crime film Murder Inc. (Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg, 1960). This was a turning point. The following year, he played 'Joy Boy' in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961). In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc. and the television program The Law and Mr. Jones. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in Pocketful of Miracles and best actor in 'The Price of Tomatoes,' an episode of The Dick Powell Show, for which he took home the award. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films, including major hits such as the star-studded comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963), with Spencer Tracy, and opposite Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack members in Robin and the Seven Hoods (Gordon Douglas, 1964). He also acted in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play 'The Balcony', also starring Shelley Winters, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. Falk continued to act in the theatre. His first role in a television series was in The Trials of O'Brien (1965-1966), which he co-produced. Despite good reviews, the stories of a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries didn't really resonate with audiences and only ran for 22 episodes.
In 1968, Peter Falk first appeared in the role with which he would become identified: the scruffy, always-clad-in-a-grimy-raincoat, and seemingly slow-witted Detective Columbo. In the TV Movie Murder by Recipe (1968), Falk played Lieutenant Columbo (later Inspector Columbo). Thanks to the success of this television film, a pilot for a series was produced in the fall of 1970. Columbo began as a series in September 1971. Till 1978, 43 episodes of the series were produced for NBC – an average of six per year. Falk tailored the role to himself – with his small stature (1.68 m), his raincoat, his old Peugeot 403 convertible (both props Falk chose himself, over the heads of the producers), his basset hound, who was simply called 'Dog,' his slight speech impediment, and the consistently crooked posture the inspector assumed when asking the perpetrator the very last, incriminating question. Columbo is now considered one of the classic TV series which has been continuously rerun for decades. Columbo viewers always know who the killer is from the very first minutes of each episode. Columbo solves his murder cases by highlighting small inconsistencies in the suspect's story and by persistently pursuing the perpetrator until they confess. Columbo's interrogation technique, in particular, became legendary: at the end of a conversation, Columbo would walk away only to suddenly return: "Oh, just one more thing," or "Oh, I almost forgot," after which the suspect is pointed out an inconsistency. The intriguing look Columbo cast on his victims at such moments was partly due to his (right) prosthetic eye. Peter Falk remained faithful to his role as Columbo for over 35 years, receiving four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe during that time. The first-season episode 'Blueprint for Murder' was directed by Falk himself. In 1977, Peter Falk married actress Shera Danese, who starred in the Columbo episodes 'Fade into Murder' (with William Shatner) and 'Murder under Glass' (directed by Jonathan Demme). At the end of the 1980s, the Columbo series returned with a new series, for which Falk regularly produced episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for one of them, 'It's All in the Game' (1993). The last episode premiered in late 2003. Over the course of 35 years, Columbo solved a total of 69 cases.
During and after his work on Columbo, Peter Falk also appeared in many feature films and other television series. He starred in the crime comedy The Brink's Job (William Friedkin, 1978) and with Alan Arkin in the action-comedy The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979). He starred opposite Ann-Margret in the mystery comedy The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978), played the grandfather in the fantasy The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987), and appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters. He also played the role of Sam Diamond in the comedy Murder by Death (Robert Moore, 1976) and appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). Remarkable is his collaboration with filmmaker and friend John Cassavetes, first in Husbands (1970), then in A Woman under the Influence (1974) and, finally, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night (1977). Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode 'Étude in Black' in 1972. Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's film Mikey and Nicky (1976). In 1987, film director Wim Wenders brought the American to Germany. Falk played himself (the actor Peter Falk) in Wenders's romantic fantasy Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Falk returned in the sequel, Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993). He lent his voice to Don Feinberg in Shark Tale (Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, 2004), and his final film was the comedy American Cowslip (Mark David, 2009). Peter Falk was married twice. In 1960, he married his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer and pianist Alyce Mayo, with whom he had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, both adopted. In 1977, Falk separated from his wife and married actress Shera Danese, 22 years his junior, with whom he lived until his death. Falk's autobiography, 'Just One More Thing', was published in 2006. At the end of 2008, Falk's daughter, Catherine, petitioned the Los Angeles court for a conservatorship of her father. She argued that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that his dementia made him vulnerable to abuse by scammers and fraudsters. He required constant care following recent hip surgery. In 2011, Falk's immediate family announced in a written statement to the press that the actor had died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills. Peter Falk was 83. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, with Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia as underlying causes. Falk is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads: "I'm not here. I'm home with Shera." In 2013, Falk posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia (English, German and Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Vintage postcard, no. 168.
Peter Falk (1927-2011) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of shabby and deceptively absent-minded Inspector Columbo in the classic crime series Columbo (1971-1978 and 1989-2003). Falk was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and won his first Emmy Award in 1962 for The Dick Powell Theatre. He was also known for his collaborations with filmmaker, actor, and friend John Cassavetes, acting in films such as Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Peter Michael Falk was born in New York in 1927. He was the son of a Polish-Hungarian-Czech father, Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and a Russian mother, Madeline (née Hochhauser). Both his parents were Jewish. At the age of three, Falk was diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye, which was surgically removed along with his right eye. Afterwards, Falk wore a glass eye. This resulted in the characteristic uneven width of his eyelid. In high school, the young man was considered athletic and graduated with excellent grades. He gained his first stage experience at the age of twelve, when he appeared in the play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. After finishing school, Falk was initially lost. He attended college for a short time, applied to join the Navy, but was rejected because of his glass eye. At the end of World War II, he spent 18 months at sea as a cook in the Merchant Marines. After the war, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. Eventually, Falk took a job with a tax authority in Hartford, Connecticut. After work, he acted in an amateur theatre group and gained further stage experience. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1955, he obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Gallienne to an agent at the William Morris Agency, and he returned to New York City. He acted in off-Broadway plays, including a revival of 'The Iceman Cometh' directed by Jose Quintero, with Jason Robards playing the lead role of Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman, and small television productions. In 1956, Falk made his Broadway debut in Alexander Ostrovsky's 'Diary of a Scoundrel'. He appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's 'Saint Joan' with Siobhán McKenna. His first film engagement with Columbia Pictures again fell through due to his 'disability,' his glass eye. Studio head Harry Cohn remarked laconically: "For the same salary, I can get an actor with two eyes." In 1958, Falk finally landed his first small film roles in Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958), the Canadian thriller The Bloody Brood (Julian Ruffman, 1959), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Herbert J. Leder, 1960), a biopic based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd. He played his first major role, the brutal hitman Abe Reles, in the crime film Murder Inc. (Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg, 1960). This was a turning point. The following year, he played 'Joy Boy' in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961). In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in Murder, Inc. and the television program The Law and Mr. Jones. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in Pocketful of Miracles and best actor in 'The Price of Tomatoes,' an episode of The Dick Powell Show, for which he took home the award. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films, including major hits such as the star-studded comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963), with Spencer Tracy, and opposite Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack members in Robin and the Seven Hoods (Gordon Douglas, 1964). He also acted in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play 'The Balcony', also starring Shelley Winters, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. Falk continued to act in the theatre. His first role in a television series was in The Trials of O'Brien (1965-1966), which he co-produced. Despite good reviews, the stories of a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries didn't really resonate with audiences and only ran for 22 episodes.
In 1968, Peter Falk first appeared in the role with which he would become identified: the scruffy, always-clad-in-a-grimy-raincoat, and seemingly slow-witted Detective Columbo. In the TV Movie Murder by Recipe (1968), Falk played Lieutenant Columbo (later Inspector Columbo). Thanks to the success of this television film, a pilot for a series was produced in the fall of 1970. Columbo began as a series in September 1971. Till 1978, 43 episodes of the series were produced for NBC – an average of six per year. Falk tailored the role to himself – with his small stature (1.68 m), his raincoat, his old Peugeot 403 convertible (both props Falk chose himself, over the heads of the producers), his basset hound, who was simply called 'Dog,' his slight speech impediment, and the consistently crooked posture the inspector assumed when asking the perpetrator the very last, incriminating question. Columbo is now considered one of the classic TV series which has been continuously rerun for decades. Columbo viewers always know who the killer is from the very first minutes of each episode. Columbo solves his murder cases by highlighting small inconsistencies in the suspect's story and by persistently pursuing the perpetrator until they confess. Columbo's interrogation technique, in particular, became legendary: at the end of a conversation, Columbo would walk away only to suddenly return: "Oh, just one more thing," or "Oh, I almost forgot," after which the suspect is pointed out an inconsistency. The intriguing look Columbo cast on his victims at such moments was partly due to his (right) prosthetic eye. Peter Falk remained faithful to his role as Columbo for over 35 years, receiving four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe during that time. The first-season episode 'Blueprint for Murder' was directed by Falk himself. In 1977, Peter Falk married actress Shera Danese, who starred in the Columbo episodes 'Fade into Murder' (with William Shatner) and 'Murder under Glass' (directed by Jonathan Demme). At the end of the 1980s, the Columbo series returned with a new series, for which Falk regularly produced episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for one of them, 'It's All in the Game' (1993). The last episode premiered in late 2003. Over the course of 35 years, Columbo solved a total of 69 cases.
During and after his work on Columbo, Peter Falk also appeared in many feature films and other television series. He starred in the crime comedy The Brink's Job (William Friedkin, 1978) and with Alan Arkin in the action-comedy The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1979). He starred opposite Ann-Margret in the mystery comedy The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978), played the grandfather in the fantasy The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987), and appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters. He also played the role of Sam Diamond in the comedy Murder by Death (Robert Moore, 1976) and appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). Remarkable is his collaboration with filmmaker and friend John Cassavetes, first in Husbands (1970), then in A Woman under the Influence (1974) and, finally, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night (1977). Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode 'Étude in Black' in 1972. Falk, in turn, co-starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's film Mikey and Nicky (1976). In 1987, film director Wim Wenders brought the American to Germany. Falk played himself (the actor Peter Falk) in Wenders's romantic fantasy Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Falk returned in the sequel, Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993). He lent his voice to Don Feinberg in Shark Tale (Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, 2004), and his final film was the comedy American Cowslip (Mark David, 2009). Peter Falk was married twice. In 1960, he married his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer and pianist Alyce Mayo, with whom he had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, both adopted. In 1977, Falk separated from his wife and married actress Shera Danese, 22 years his junior, with whom he lived until his death. Falk's autobiography, 'Just One More Thing', was published in 2006. At the end of 2008, Falk's daughter, Catherine, petitioned the Los Angeles court for a conservatorship of her father. She argued that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that his dementia made him vulnerable to abuse by scammers and fraudsters. He required constant care following recent hip surgery. In 2011, Falk's immediate family announced in a written statement to the press that the actor had died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills. Peter Falk was 83. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, with Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia as underlying causes. Falk is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads: "I'm not here. I'm home with Shera." In 2013, Falk posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia (English, German and Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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After a long prison sentence Smiler Grogan is heading at high speed to a California park where he hid $350,000 from a job 15 years previously. He accidentally careers over a cliff in view of four cars whose occupants go down to help. The dying Grogan gives details of where the money is buried and when the witnesses fail to agree on sharing the cash, a crazy chase develops across the state. A Brilliant Comedy and an actor's whose who cast, too long to list them all.
Peter Falk is dead
"I wish i could see you, companero", says Peter Falk to his fellow angel, in "Der Himmel Über Berlin" ("Wings of Desire"), a wonderful movie from Wim Wenders, surprisingly shown on TV (on BS channel of course) in my hotel room at Yamaguchi.
"J'aimerais pouvoir te voir, companero", dit Peter Falk à son compagnon l'ange-gardien, dans "Der Himmel Über Berlin" ("les Ailes du Désir"), excellent film de Wim Wenders, bonne surprise de le voir à la télé japonaise (sur la chaine BS bien sur), dans ma chambre d'hotel de Yamaguchi.