# RIP Peter Falk **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733 "2011-06-24T17:38:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/61 "2011-06-25T00:12:27Z")
Wow it is sad that he’s gone. RIP Peter Falk … oh, and just one more thing … ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/62 "2011-06-25T00:23:30Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > The CNN obit says he lost his eye because of a childhood operation, but it also says he served in the military (presumably during World War II). Did the U.S. military really take one-eyed men during that period? He was in the Merchant Marine during the Second World War, which is not the military. > **[Peter Falk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Falk)** > > Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/ABC series Columbo (1968–1978, 1989–2003), for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards (1972, 1975, 1976, 1990) and a Golden Globe Award (1973). In 1996, TV Guide ranked Falk No. 21 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. He received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. > He first starred as Columbo in two 2-h... ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/63 "2011-06-25T00:29:39Z")
Yesterday on the airplane I sat and watched The Cheap Detective on my iPod. Push the button Max. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/64 "2011-06-25T01:10:09Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > The sequel to _Wings of Desire_ is _Faraway, So Close!_ (_In Weiter Ferne, So Nah!_). Falk has a bigger role in that one, which mentions his career as an artist as well - his thoughts reveal that he knows he’s only being shown because he’s a famous actor. Gorbachev does, indeed, have a brief cameo at the start. Personally, I like it better than the first one - it’s my favorite film of all time - though I know most disagree. We both like the first one better, although we like the second one too. RIP, Detective. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/65 "2011-06-25T01:24:23Z")
It’s worth everyone’s time here to get a copy of _The Great Race_ just to watch Falk and Jack Lemmon top each other, line after line, bit after bit, in every scene. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/66 "2011-06-25T01:37:23Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > The CNN obit says he lost his eye because of a childhood operation, but it also says he served in the military (presumably during World War II). Did the U.S. military really take one-eyed men during that period? His [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Falk) says: **“After graduating from high school in 1945, Falk briefly attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and then tried to join the armed services as World War II was drawing to a close. Rejected because of his glass eye, he joined the United States Merchant Marine, and served as a cook and mess boy. ‘There they don’t care if you’re blind or not,’ Falk said in 1997. ‘The only one on a ship who has to see is the captain. And in the case of the Titanic, he couldn’t see very well, either’.”** This is sad, but in the BBC’s report just now, they said he’d been suffering from dementia and in recent years was always puzzled about this Columbo fellow people kept asking him about. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/67 "2011-06-25T05:36:03Z")
I first saw the news as I was heading to work early today. This is my first chance to post anything in response to his passing. Peter Falk had an incredible career and just by reading the posts in this thread it is obvious the impact he had on many of us. I’ve always loved Columbo and The Cheap Detective among other things he appeared in but most of all The In-Laws was where I fell for him head over heels. This film made me laugh until my sides hurt when I saw it in the theater at the age of 17 and it still cracks me up today. In particular the scene where Vince talks about [tsetse flies the size of eagles.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhfFwLewgmc) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/68 "2011-06-25T06:51:58Z")
Dean Martin’s roast were always cheesy with way too much obvious fake laughter, but [this is a moment of perfect comic timing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKunEn9VUrw) where I think very little of the laughter is just to be polite. ---
**Author:** ![MunkaMike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@MunkaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MunkaMike)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/69 "2011-06-25T08:50:29Z")
I’ve always liked " Roommates" His portail of Rocky, made me think of some of my uncles. I could see them acting much like his character. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/70 "2011-06-25T15:19:11Z")
Old joke: What is black & white, wears an old rumpled raincoat and a Star of David, and has two eyes? Sammy Davis Jr. & Peter Falk ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/71 "2011-06-25T23:11:04Z")
I never completely understood “Roasts” but look at the lineup. Maaaan. RIP, Peter. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/72 "2011-06-26T03:35:32Z")
I too will miss him. No mention yet of one of my all-time favorite war movies he was in – _Anzio_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/73 "2011-06-26T15:46:23Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I never completely understood “Roasts” but look at the lineup. Maaaan. Looks like Don Rickles won the tontine for that night’s event… ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733/74 "2011-06-27T11:42:31Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > It’s worth everyone’s time here to get a copy of _The Great Race_ just to watch Falk and Jack Lemmon top each other, line after line, bit after bit, in every scene. “Do you want me to cut your meat for you?” I cannot stress how correct this is, one of the funniest movies ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-falk/586733.md?page=3)