Peter Falk, RIP

[Jim_Thomas]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20074112-10391698.html

"Serpentine" just doesn't work against the Grim Reaper...

[HGervais]

Greatest TV cop ever. Damn fine actor. I was lucky enough to run into him three times here in New Orleans over the years, crusty guy but approachable. I love his bit in Wings of Desire.

[the5thghostbuster]

May he RIP and God be with his family. Loved him in Columbo, but even more so for Wings of Desire. How many actors can get away playing themselves as a former angel and still come across as the most humble guy ever?

[HGervais]

Columbo bliss.

[HGervais]

I did some late night Columbo watching yesterday and I can't overstate just how good the show & Falk were. Less a mystery each week and more a chance to watch two talented actors box with each other, when the show was on, it was really, really good and when it was off it was still fun to watch. Just great stuff.

[hoytereden]

Too bad. He'll always be identified with Columbo but I also loved some of his films such as-The In-Laws "Serpentine Shel!" . Plus, being a memeber of the Cassavetes posse, films as Husbands.

[Polynikes]

It seems to me that he was an actor to whom most people instinctively warmed. His playing of the Columbo character was brilliant.

My late father told me on several occasions with a smile that he had never imagined he had anything in common with Nicolai Ceausescu, but he had read somewhere that the former Romanian ruler enjoyed watching re-runs of Columbo, and that a collection of Columbo VHS tapes were found amongst Ceausescu's possessions after his death. Can anyone authenticate this story? I can't find anything from a quick web search.

[Attrage]

I will remember him primarily for fond recollections of watching re-runs of Columbo in my college days, but I actually really liked him as Max the mob boss in Made. And of course as the Grandfather in Princess Bride, "when I was your age, television was called books!"