Columbo (character)

Columbo first appeared in a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show titled "Enough Rope", wherein he was portrayed by Bert Freed.^[2] After this, the character was portrayed almost entirely by Peter Falk, who appeared in the role from 1968 through 2003.^[1] Columbo's first name was never used in dialogue, although the name "Frank Columbo" is visible on pieces of identification in various episodes.^[3] (When asked directly what Columbo's first name was, Falk jokingly replied with "Lieutenant.")

Levinson and Link have said that the character was partially inspired by the Crime and Punishment character Porfiry Petrovich as well as G. K. Chesterton's humble cleric-detective Father Brown. Other sources claim Columbo's character is also influenced by Inspector Fichet from the French suspense-thriller film Les Diaboliques (1955).^[4] In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 in the UK, Columbo was ranked 18th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.^[5]

Fictional character biography

Columbo's boyhood hero was Joe DiMaggio, and he liked gangster pictures. Columbo broke street lamps and played too much pinball (he expressed a wish to have a pinball machine at home). The trick of putting a potato in a car exhaust—which purportedly prevents the car from starting without causing permanent damage—served well on one of his cases. He jokes that he became a cop in part to make up for these juvenile pranks.

In "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case", in a conversation with the suspect, Columbo revealed: "All my life I kept running into smart people. I don't just mean smart like you and the people in this house. You know what I mean ..." He added, "I could tell right away that it wasn't gonna be easy making detective as long as they were around", but he determined that he could even the odds "by working harder than any of them, reading all of the required books and paying attention to every detail."

Although not socially polished, Columbo is civil, addressing everyone to do with the case as "Sir", "Ma'am" or "Miss". He rarely displays anger toward his prime suspect, though he sometimes becomes frustrated with other characters. In an impromptu speech to a ladies' club meeting hosted by Ruth Gordon's character, at which he shows up uninvited, he admits that over the course of many of his investigations, he grew to like and respect the suspects. The people Columbo interviews during his investigations, especially the suspects, often become irritated with Columbo's habit of taking an inordinate amount of time to get to his point. This causes the murder suspects to be dismissive of Columbo as he builds his case against them.

Firearms

Columbo rarely carries a gun, and is never shown to exercise much physical force. In some episodes he allows himself to be placed in a predicament in which the killer believes he or she will be able to kill Columbo and escape. In the 1971 episode "Death Lends a Hand", it is revealed that he does not carry a gun when he walks through a metal detector and does not set it off. In the 1975 episode "Forgotten Lady", he explains that he keeps it "downtown", and in other episodes he expresses a strong dislike of guns and their use, as well as an intolerance to the noise produced when firing them. Additionally, in "Troubled Waters", Columbo asks Hayden Danziger (who later would be proven to be the murderer) to shoot a gun since the detective says "I hate guns. Besides, I'm a bad shot. I'm liable to miss". In "Playback", he confirms that he hates guns. Nevertheless, he fires a gun in a box full of sand saying that he has done it before. In "Forgotten Lady", it is also revealed that Columbo has failed to attend his required semi-annual evaluation at the department's firing range in the last ten years, leading him to ask a colleague to take the test for him to avoid being suspended. He does carry a gun for his work in 1992's "No Time to Die"

Columbo appears to be prone to airsickness[10] and seasickness,^[11] and he cannot swim, though he has been known to row a boat.^[12] In "Dead Weight", when General Hollister (Eddie Albert) comments on Columbo's seasickness by asking why someone with the name "Columbo" would not be at home on a boat, the detective responds, "It must have been another branch of the family". In other episodes, Columbo does claim that his family is descended from Columbus.

He is (or pretends to be) squeamish, and does not like hospitals or autopsies. He finds it distasteful to look at photographs of autopsies while eating ("Dagger of the Mind"). He demonstrates an aversion to viewing surgical procedures and an apparent fear of needles. In "Uneasy Lies the Crown," he expresses a fear of the dentist. In "A Stitch in Crime", Columbo says he "faints" merely by being in a hospital. He claims to be

In "A Stitch in Crime", Columbo grumbles throughout the episode about being sleep-deprived and working too hard. (Columbo suffers from severe allergies "every spring", although when we first see him suffering symptoms in this episode, he does not know what they are. He says he will not take allergy medicine because of the side effects.) This is also the one and only time—at least in the NBC decade—Columbo challenges his suspect with physical violence (by slamming a water carafe on Dr. Mayfield's desk with great force before directly accusing Mayfield of murder and attempted murder). The killer, Dr. Mayfield (Leonard Nimoy), had begun sarcastically (and almost uncontrollably) laughing at Columbo's vocal suspicion that Mayfield had murdered a nurse and had attempted the murder of his boss, the head of research at the hospital. It is later revealed that Columbo's outburst was an intentional effort to get Mayfield to lose his composure, since the doctor's unflappable demeanor, and his uncharacteristic response to a later provocation, would in fact be his undoing. In "Double Shock", Columbo is genuinely alarmed and upset by the housekeeper's dislike of him. He confronts her to ask why she must behave in so hostile a fashion; finally, he convinces her that he is simply doing his job.

Columbo's distinctive stare was due to Falk's

In almost every episode of the later ABC series, Columbo is heard whistling the children's song "This Old Man". It often appears as a motif in the musical score and is considered an unofficial title score.^[13] The song was first included when Falk stood around in character, whistling the tune without it being in the script and was later considered so fitting for the character that the series used it in almost every episode.^[14] In "Murder Under Glass", an orchestral version is used for a banquet scene. In the penultimate Columbo film, 2000's "Murder with Too Many Notes", Columbo reveals to a music student (and friend of the murder victim) that his wife always hums "This Old Man" when she is cleaning their house. The movie ends with Columbo asking the student to teach him how to play the song so he can play it for her on her next birthday. This is contradicted by the 1977 episode "Try and Catch Me", in which Columbo can be seen playing the first two lines of "This Old Man" on a piano, which shows that he already knows how to play the song. In many of the first season films, Columbo is revealed to also love classical music and has a high level of knowledge about it.

Columbo frequently mentions his wife. In a number of episodes, the murderer is a celebrity or figure well known to Columbo's wife, and in several Columbo attempts to procure a souvenir for her, or to enlist the celebrity to make a telephone call to her. However, she is never at home.

Columbo also has a habit of receiving police calls on the landline of the witness or suspect's house while he is visiting them.

"Étude in Black" (1972) marked the first appearance of the lieutenant's

Columbo's first name is never explicitly mentioned during the series.[16] The opening credits simply read, "Peter Falk as Columbo". When asked about his first name, Columbo always wryly answers "Lieutenant." In the episode "By Dawn's Early Light", he states that the only person who calls him by his first name is his wife.^{[citation needed]}

In

Family

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In the course of his investigations, Columbo often discussed details of his personal life, some of which were inconsistent with details given in other episodes. Although some of these inconsistencies may have been genuine continuity errors, it is also possible that the writers intended Columbo to be giving misinformation to suspects in order to steer the conversations in his intended direction.

Childhood

Columbo was born and raised in New York City in a neighborhood near

In "Any Old Port in a Storm", he mentions that he is Italian “on both sides”, and suggests the family is from Southern Italy, calling Milan "up north".

The Columbo household included his grandfather, parents, five brothers (one named George and another named Fred), and a sister, Rose. His father wore glasses and did the cooking when his mother was in the hospital having another baby. His grandfather "was a tailgunner on a beer truck during

In a number of episodes, Columbo will encounter murder suspects, who happen to be public figures, and tell them that his wife is a "big fan," which sometimes leads Columbo into asking the suspect for his/her autograph for his wife. Often, during questioning, Columbo will observe something about his suspects, such as the way they dress, or how they decorate their home or office, which prompts Columbo to remark that his wife either likes, or might like, whatever he is observing.^[citation needed]

In three episodes ("

The 1979–1980 NBC series Mrs. Columbo starred Kate Mulgrew as an amateur mystery-solver. The show initially made clear that this was intended to be the wife of Lt. Columbo, despite clear contradictions with descriptions of Mrs. Columbo on the original series. Early ratings for the show were poor, so the series was revamped, and the character renamed (Kate Columbo is renamed Kate Callahan after an off-screen divorce) with all connections to Columbo removed.^[25]

Columbo made a non-canon appearance during The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Frank Sinatra in which Columbo asked Frank Sinatra for an autograph. Columbo asked it to be made out to Mrs. Columbo and then requested it "To Rose".^[26]

Children

Columbo had children, but no details were ever disclosed about them. As with his wife, their actual existence within the show has been questioned, but as with his wife there is evidence that they were real. In the episode "

In "Any Old Port in a Storm", he refers to the difficulty of getting a babysitter. He also mentions in that episode taking his wife and "child" on a picnic, and alludes to this child in "

Other relatives

In "

Car

On duty, Columbo drives his own car, a French 1959

Peter Falk selected the car personally, after seeing it in a parking lot at Universal Studios.[28] In the season 5 episode "Identity Crisis",^[29] Columbo boasts that the car is a rare automobile, "only three like it in the States". From June 1956 to July 1961, only 2,050 were produced,^[30] and only 504 were produced for model year 1959.^[31] Though it regularly exhibits mechanical problems large and small,^[32] Columbo professes faith in his vehicle, telling a valet, "I've got over 100,000 miles on it. You take care of your car, it'll take care of you."^[33] This car can also be seen in a stock shot used at the beginning of the pilot of The Rockford Files, "The Backlash of the Hunter". The car also made an appearance in an episode of Adam-12.

In "Columbo Goes to College" (1990), he reveals that this is not his only car, as his wife has a "little runaround for the shopping".

When the series returned on ABC, James and Connie Delaney of Findlay, Ohio, owned the car, but were unwilling to sell it, though they lent it to Universal for filming.^[29]

Statue

In 2014 a bronze sculptural work with life-sized statues of Columbo and Dog by the sculptor Géza Dezső Fekete [hu] was erected in Budapest in Falk Miksa utca (Miksa Falk Street). According to an urban legend, Hungarian politician and journalist Miksa Falk and Peter Falk were distant relatives. Later research proved this wrong.^[34]

References