Columbo actor Peter Falk “couldn’t remember” his award-winning role near the end of his life

Behind the gentle shuffle and disarming squint was a man whose life was marked by both grit and deep contradiction. Peter Falk overcame childhood cancer, the loss of his eye, and industry prejudice to become one of television’s highest‑paid and most respected actors. Yet while Columbo patiently unraveled other people’s lies, Falk’s own private world frayed: heavy drinking, affairs, a first wife who finally walked away, and daughters left wounded in the fallout. His second marriage, to actress Shera Danese, only intensified the family rift, with eldest daughter Catherine claiming she was barred from his home and even his funeral as Alzheimer’s slowly erased him. When Falk died in 2011, tributes praised his genius, but the people who loved him most were still fighting for a place at his side. His legacy is unforgettable — and painfully, unmistakably human.