The estimated nett worth of American actor Peter Michael Falk is $14 million. Character actor Peter Falk, best known for playing Lieutenant Columbo on television, has also had a successful film career. He frequently collaborates with John Cassavetes, a pioneering independent director.
Born in New York City on September 16, 1927, Falk experienced eye loss at the age of three, leaving him with the peculiar, squinting stare that would later become his signature. He initially pursued a career in public administration, working for the Connecticut Budget Bureau as an efficiency expert in the early 1950s, but he soon became interested in acting due to dissatisfaction with his job. By 1955, Falk had become a professional, and his performance in The Iceman Cometh in New York attracted a lot of notice. Early roles on film frequently presented the tiny, stocky, and untidy Falk as a gangster or a blue-collar character; it was for the latter performance in the 1960 film Murder Inc. that he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, which significantly boosted his career. The year after, he received another nomination in the same category, this time for his performance as a sarcastic bodyguard in Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles. Falk received an Emmy in 1962 for his performance in the Dick Powell Theatre production of The Price of Tomatoes, a television movie.
In the TV movie Columbo, which aired in 1968, Falk made his acting debut as the dishevelled police lieutenant whose allegedly slow and ineffective investigative manner actually concealed a steel-trap mind. Prescription: Murder, the character was an instant popularity, and after a second telefilm, Ransom for a Dead Man, a regular Columbo series debuted as part of the rotating NBC Mystery Movie anthology in the fall of 1971. The series ran for seven years and won Falk a second Emmy during that time.
On June 23, 2011, Falk passed away in his Beverly Hills home. The actor suffered dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to his daughter Catherine Falk.
STATISTICS
Source of Wealth:
Film, Television
Birth Place:
New York City, New York, United States
Height:
5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
Marital Status:
Widowed (Shera Danese)
Full Name:
Peter Michael Falk
Nationality:
American
Date of Birth:
September 16, 1927
Ethnicity:
Ashkenazi Jewish
Occupation:
Actor
Education:
Syracuse University, Maxwell School, Hamilton College, New School for Social Research
Children:
2 (Catherine, Jackie)
EARNINGS & FINANCIAL DATA
Earnings 1971
Salary 1971Salary per 2 weeks from the TV series Columbo’s episode, Murder by the Book$350,000Earnings 1958
Salary 1958Weekly salary from Wind Across the Everglades$300,000
