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Lieutenant Frank Columbo is the main character in the American detective
crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
television series ''
Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...
'' created by
Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Univ ...
and
William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
. Columbo is a shrewd and exceptionally observant homicide detective who often disguises his aptitude with his inelegant, shambling manner; trademarks of his
blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
ethos include his rumpled beige raincoat, cigar and relentless investigative approach.


Character history

Columbo first appeared in a 1960 episode of '' The Chevy Mystery Show'' titled "Enough Rope", wherein he was portrayed by Bert Freed. After this, the character was portrayed almost entirely by
Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...
, who appeared in the role from 1968 through 2003. Levinson and Link have said that the character was based on the ''
Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.
'' character Porfiry Petrovich.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
claimed that Columbo's character was also influenced by Inspector Fichet from the French suspense-thriller film '' Les Diaboliques''. Columbo's signature
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
, "just one more thing", originated when Levinson and Link were writing a scene in which Columbo interrogated a criminal before leaving his apartment. The scene was too short, however, and they could not add conversation into the middle of the scene as they were using a typewriter, and that would require rewriting the scene from the beginning. They decided to fix this by having Columbo stick his head back through the door and say "just one more thing" as if he had forgotten something. Columbo's first name is never mentioned in dialogue, although the name "Frank Columbo" is briefly visible on pieces of identification in a few episodes. Due to Columbo's first name being obscure in the show, author Fred L. Worth intentionally included a
fictitious entry Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as Dictionary, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and directories, added by the editors as #Copyright traps, copyright traps to reveal subsequent plagiarism or ...
in ''
The Trivia Encyclopedia ''The Trivia Encyclopedia'' is a 1974 book written by Fred L. Worth. A best-selling book in its day, ''The Trivia Encyclopedia'' was brought back to public consciousness in the 1980s, when author Worth unsuccessfully sued the makers of ''Trivial ...
'', falsely claiming that the character's first name was "Philip" in order to catch
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...
of the book. This incorrect trivium was reused in ''
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question the ...
'', causing Worth to sue the game's publishers. The lawsuit was dismissed by the judge.


Fictional character biography

As an
Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
police lieutenant for the
Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
, Columbo investigates elaborate murders committed by intelligent criminals who are often members of
high society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...
. With his high intelligence and keen eye for detail, Columbo usually suspects the true killer soon after investigating the scene of the crime. During the rest of the investigation, Columbo relies on his unassuming personality and seemingly clumsy manner to ingratiate himself with the suspect. Often, the suspect eventually confesses after Columbo reveals small but highly incriminating details he has discovered about the crime. Columbo classically drives an old beat-up
Peugeot 403 The Peugeot 403 is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Peugeot between May 1955 and October 1966. A total of 1,214,121 of all types, including commercial models, were produced, making it the first Peugeot to exceed one million in sales. ...
car, which sometimes helps lull suspects into a false sense of security about the detective's competence. He does not carry a gun, and in later episodes is occasionally accompanied by a
basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of France, French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly en ...
he calls "Dog". Information about Columbo's life outside of his police work is scarce and revealed through his rambling anecdotes. Columbo often refers to his wife ("the Mrs."), who is an
unseen character An unseen character in theatre, comics, film or television, or a silent character in radio or literature, is a character who is mentioned but not directly known to the audience, but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and w ...
in the show. She later received a spin-off show called '' Mrs. Columbo'', although the
canonicity The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical example ...
of this show is disputed.


Reception and legacy

In a 2001 poll conducted by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
in the UK, Columbo was ranked 18th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. He was also listed by ''
Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...
'' as one of the "greatest TV cops of all time", and ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' described him as "an enduring TV icon".


Statue

In 2014, a bronze sculptural work with life-sized statues of Columbo and his dog, by the sculptor was erected in Miksa Falk Street,
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. An urban legend states that the Hungarian politician and journalist Miksa Falk and Peter Falk were distant relatives, although this is untrue.


See also

* List of fictional police detectives


References

{{Authority control Columbo Fictional American detectives Fictional police lieutenants Fictional Los Angeles Police Department detectives Television characters introduced in 1960 Fictional Italian police detectives