Are we sure he’s not playing at it as he bumbles his way to the truth about the murder?
Lt Columbo walks to the door.
:smack:
There’s just one more thing I need to ask you …
This is really sad. What is sadder is that his daughter feels that people may take advantage of the situation.
Anyhow, while I like Columbo, my fondest image of Peter Falk is in a different movie
[Fred Savage]Grampa, do you think you could read some more to me tomorrow, if you really want to
[Peter Falk]As you wish…
Si
God, I feel bad. Mostly because my first thought was, “they’ll never do that final Columbo script now! Goddamn ABC!”
It makes me feel like such a heel. 
Best wishes to the man for all the entertainment over the years. Looking at his IMDb page, he’s slowed down a bit, but has an appearance in another movie coming out soon: American Cowslip, an idiosyncratic-looking production co-starring a lot of familiar names.
As an aside… is it possible that the daughter herself is making a nefarious play for control of Falk’s money? The fact that a hearing is necessary seems to suggest that Falk himself isn’t willing to sign off on the arrangement… which admittedly might be the case whether or not he’s affected by Alzheimer’s. Of course I have no idea what his family or health situation is, but Lt. Columbo would want us to consider all the possibilities, no matter how unsavory.
Whatever the truth of the matter… if Alzheimer’s has caught up with him, he’s had a good long run. I hope I’m still active enough at 81 that a court hearing is necessary to determine whether I’m becoming mentally unfit.
One of the entertainment news/gossip shows showed a video clip of Falk out and about a couple months ago. He didn’t remember where he parked his car and he was acting very confused and was rather unkempt. I remember thinking at the time that the poor guy seemed to be suffering from some form of dementia.
Oh crap, that sucks.
My favorite Falkian moments:
And of course:
Love his performance in Murder By Death, too. He’s one of those actors who’s just damn good in everything he does. Typecast to a degree, but still … when he gets a good script, he knocks his roles out of the ballpark. Dependably hilarious.
Aw, geez. His family’s from my home town, they had a department store next to the high school.
… shoot. I should get my mom to send a letter or something.
Me too. He was a wonderful storyteller.
In fairness, that’s also a pretty accurate description of me at the mall.
He also had a small but lovely role in the film Wings of Desire, playing himself but with a twist. One of my favorite films.
Aw, damnit. I love Peter Falk and I hate to hear this type of news.
My favorite bit from “The In-Laws” was the part about the inscribed photo of JFK, going from memory.
Sheldon: What was that inscription about, ‘To Vince, At least we tried’?
Vince: That was about the Bay of Pigs.
Sheldon: You were involved in the Bay of Pigs?
Vince (proudly): It was my idea!
A shame-I liked Falk as “COLUMBO”-I still catch reruns of it. Perhaps he could star in a new series…“The Confused Detective”?
Seriously, few actors could match Falk’s low-key, act dumb schtick-that was how he tripped the perps up.
Dang!
After Alan Arkin won his Oscar, I thought there might be an outside chance his twice-nominated In-Laws co-star might be able to do the same. Sad to see a guy so full of energy and wicked mischief go down this path.
"Serpentine, SERPENTINE!"
Shit, that still cracks me up!
Sorry to hear about this. My Dad and I never missed watching a Columbo episode, and Dad had Columbo’s "at the door “schtick” down pat. Right down to the hand to the brow and the other holding the cigar in the air.
Q
This same daughter (Catherine Falk, a private detective) was on the Howard Stern Show circa 1995 plugging a book called “Under the Trenchcoat” about what a drag it was being Peter Falk’s daughter. Stern and company were unsympathetic, and the book disappeared without a trace. Amazon doesn’t even list it. Falk’s daughter is being opposed by his second wife (i.e. not the one he adopted the daughters with).
I know what it’s like to lose a father to Alzheimers, and to have everyone in the family jockey for position re: the estate with the murkiest of motives. Clearly, there’s a lot going on here.
Looking over that IMDB listing, he played Lt. Columbo over an incredible 32 years (!), from 1971 through 2003. And he was Exec. Producer on all the later ones.
He scripted one episode in 1993.
A blurb on one of the tabloid news programs last night mentioned that the daughter “had not been allowed to see her father since Father’s Day.”
A Salute to Detective Columbo :smack: