Peter Falk @ 80.

"Heh, wat denn, is det Columbo?" one Berliner asks another as Peter Falk walks by in Scene 5033 of Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire. Even given the incredible work he did with Cassavetes, rarely has an actor been so closely identified with a single character all around the world. Columbo, after all, has been exported to 80 countries. The role seems to have been such a natural fit that he'd often wait to learn his lines until moments before a scene was shot, as he readily admits on Tuesday on the BBC's Just One More Thing: Columbo! (great listening after the corny beginning).

Salutes, downright odes, in the German papers: Fritz Göttler in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Andreas Kilb in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (lots of pix), Frank Noack in Der Tagesspiegel and Daniela Pogade in the Berliner Zeitung.

Online browsing tip. Falk's drawings, posted at his site.

Update, 9/19: Ray Pride's got a bit of online viewing.

Posted by dwhudson at September 16, 2007 5:58 AM