Columbo Dies

Everett Collection

Peter Falk was best known for playing the rumpled star of crime drama "Columbo."

NBC:

Actor Peter Falk, known to millions as the rumpled star of television crime drama "Columbo," has died, KTLA.com reports. The actor was 83.

He reportedly was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Falk first played Lieutenant Columbo (his first name was never clearly announced, though one badge image lists it as "Frank") in a 1968 TV movie. Its popularity led to a second film and then to the series, which ran from 1971 to 1978. Even after the show was canceled, Falk would play the laid-back detective in "Columbo" TV movies.

"He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said of his famous character. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

I would guess that my college roommate thought of me when he heard the news.  That's because when we were freshmen and the Fab Five at Michigan were scheduled to play Duke on a Saturday night, tons of guys were crammed into the basement lounge to watch the game.  I looked at him and asked, "Everybody's here to watch Columbo, right?"  He thought that was hilarious, and he would bring up Columbo occasionally after that.  It probably shows that folks from Iowa are pretty sheltered, and don't know what funny jokes are.