R.I.P Peter Falk (1927 - 2011)
For most people, this is how they will remember actor Peter Falk - as the eternally-dishevelled, forever brilliant detective, Columbo. And that is more than okay. Columbo is an iconic character. So fantastically unkempt and always one step ahead of the smug smart murderers who look down on him due to his exterior. I love that. I love how he behaved, how he unnerved them, and tied them in knots. The writing was good but my, was the performance ever amazing. Falk just made the character, who could have gotten annoying very quickly in lesser hands, work so brilliantly, ensuring that the audience was always on his side. I'm grateful that that will live on. Despite the wealth of cop shows now on TV, we'll never have another detective like Columbo.
To me, Falk will always be the Grandfather in The Princess Bride, telling a story to his bored grandson, framing the film. It's such a warm performance, with enough sharp edges in it to keep it completely real. I believe every time that I watch it that he's a real grandfather, annoying his grandson and telling him to shut up and teaching him something too. And he always makes me smile. I love that so much.
Falk overcame a lot in his life. It's well known that one of his eyes was medically removed at a young age due to a tumour and that he wore a glass eye for the rest of his life. He was a real character actor, who was in a lot of different films and TV shows than many people realise. I advise looking them out. He was a talent that people felt nostalgic about even before he died due to how big a part of their lives he was through Columbo. He was just always there, catching the bad guys. It doesn't seem right that he's not here anymore.
I read his book and really reccomend it. His memoirs are truly interesting and funny and give a real sense of who he was and how happy acting and his wife made him. I read it and smiled and was glad that there were people like him in the world. I'm full of sorrow that that's no longer true.
So, so long Lieutenant. Thanks for everything, for that raincoat, for reading a story, for that final 'as you wish', for there always being 'just one more thing.'
R.I.P Peter Falk
A really thorough and fascinating obituary for him from The Guardian can be read here.