Peter Falk, the gravel-voiced US actor who played rumpled TV detective Columbo, has died aged 83, his family said. Falk, whose portrayal of the disheveled, raincoat-wearing homicide detective made him a household name around the world and earned him several Emmy awards, died Thursday at his home.
“Peter Falk, 83 year-old Academy Award nominee and star of television series Columbo, died peacefully at his Beverly Hills home in the evening of June 23, 2011,” said a statement issued by a family lawyer.
The cause of death was not given, but the actor had suffered from Alzheimer’s in recent years, and his wife Shera was appointed to look after his affairs in 2009.
Falk had an impressive movie career including 1974′s “A Woman Under the Influence,” Wim Wenders’s classic “Wings of Desire” in 1987 and “The Princess Bride” in the same year.
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Source: Yahoo News, AFP
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