Peter Falk

A casually brilliant actor, Peter Falk is best known as the perpetually disheveled TV detective Columbo, but he also appeared in an eclectic array of films, elevating every production that he was in with his endearing and empathetic persona. After getting his start on the stage in the 1950s, Falk graduated to notable movie roles in the early '60s, earning two Oscar nods for bravura turns in Murder, Inc. and Pocketful of Miracles. He first donned Columbo's creased raincoat in a '68 TV movie, and the character received his own series in '71, with Falk starring as the seemingly absentminded sleuth on and off for more than three decades. In the meantime, Falk, whose squinty gaze partially masked his one glass eye, took on more nuanced roles in two of the finest domestic dramas by his friend John Cassavetes, Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, and was memorably paired with Alan Arkin in the '79 comedy The In-Laws. Although he laid low for much of the '80s, 1987 proved to be a key year for Falk, with supporting, but scene-stealing, parts in Rob Reiner's playful fantasy tale The Princess Bride and Wim Wenders' pensive art-house hit Wings of Desire, where he portrayed himself as a former angel. When Falk died in 2011, he left behind a screen career, which, like the actor himself, is both unassuming and utterly compelling.