Peter Michael Falk was an American actor. He was best known as the rumpled television detective Lieutenant Columbo, but character actor Peter Falk has also had a successful cinematic career, frequently working with pioneering indie filmmaker John Cassavetes. Look at his net worth, career, and everything else you need to know about him.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Peter Falk |
| Born | September 16, 1927 |
| Died | Jun 23, 2011 |
| Profession | Actor, Television producer |
| Nationality | American |
| Networth | $5 million |
Peter Falk’s Net Worth at the Time of His Death
Peter Falk was an American actor, producer, director, and writer who died in 2011 with a net worth of $5 million. Peter Falk was best known for playing Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/ABC crime drama “Columbo” (1968-1978; 1989-2003). Falk also produced the show, wrote the 1993 episode “It’s All in the Game,” and directed “Blueprint for Murder” and “Étude in Black” in 1972.
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Peter Falk’s Early Life and Career
Peter Michael Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in The Bronx, New York. Michael Falk and Madeline Hochhauser raised Peter.
His father ran a clothing and dry goods company, and his mother worked as an accountant. Falk was raised in Ossining by Jewish parents. Peter had to have his right eye surgically removed when he was three years old due to retinoblastoma.
As a result, he spent the majority of his life with an artificial eye. Falk was a basketball and baseball player in his youth, and he told “Cigar Aficionado” in 1997, “I remember once in high school the umpire called me out at third base when I was sure I was safe.” I became so enraged that I took out my glass eye and handed it to him, saying, ‘Try this.’ You wouldn’t believe how hard I laughed.”
Falk joined the Mark Twain Masquers while working as a management analyst for Hartford’s Connecticut State Budget Bureau. He appeared in plays such as “The Crucible” and “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” and studied acting at the White Barn Theatre with Eva Le Gallienne.
Peter quit his job around this time, and after a few months with the Le Gallienne group, Eva wrote him a letter of recommendation to deliver to a representative at New York’s William Morris Agency.
What Was the Reason for His Death?
Peter died on June 23, 2011, at the age of 83, at his Beverly Hills residence. His primary cause of death was pneumonia, while the underlying/secondary cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Falk was laid to rest at Los Angeles’ Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, with his tombstone reading “I’m not here, I’m home with Shera.”
Catherine, Peter’s daughter, claimed that Shera barred some of Peter’s family members from seeing him and failed to notify them of significant changes in his condition.
According to the Catherine Falk Organization website, Catherine and her sister, Jackie, “learned of their father’s death from media reports and their attorney.” Mrs. Falk buried Mr. Falk without informing his daughters.”
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Catherine advocated for the introduction of “Peter Falk’s Law,” legislation passed in New York in 2015 to set “specific guidelines that guardians/conservators for an incapacitated person must comply with relevant to visitation rights and notice of the end of life.” Since then, more than 15 additional states have passed similar legislation.