Columbo

Columbo is an American crime fiction TV series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show popularized the inverted detective story format; each episode began by showing the commission of the crime and the perpetrator. The character first appeared in an 1960 episode of the anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show (later to be adapted into a stage play). A pilot movie was broadcast in 1968; the series aired regularly from 1971 to 1978, and later, sporadically from 1989 to 2003.

The character of Columbo was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, who claimed that Columbo was partially inspired by the Crime and Punishment character, Porfiry Petrovich, as well as G. K. Chesterton's humble clerical detective Father Brown. Other sources claim Columbo's character is based on Inspector Fichet from the classic French suspense-thriller Les Diaboliques (1955). Columbo is a shabby, apparently slow-witted police detective; although, as criminals eventually learn, appearances can be deceptive. Columbo uses his deferential and absent-minded persona to lull criminal suspects into a false sense of security; meanwhile, he solves his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in a suspect's story and by hounding the suspect until he or she confesses. Columbo's signature technique is to exit the scene of an interview, invariably stopping in the doorway or returning a moment later to ask "just one more thing" of a suspect. The "one more thing" always brings to light the key inconsistency.


History of the character
The character first appeared, portrayed by Bert Freed, in a 1960 episode of the anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show. This was later adapted into a stage play in 1962 with Thomas Mitchell. A television pilot movie was broadcast in 1968; the series then aired regularly from 1971 to 1978, and later, sporadically from 1989 to 2003, when the last episode was broadcast.


Bert Freed as Columbo
The character of Columbo first appeared in 1960 in an episode of the NBC anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show, where he was played by Bert Freed, a character actor with a thatchy grey mane of hair. The episode, titled "Enough Rope", was adapted by Levinson and Link from their short story "May I Come In" (originally entitled "Dear Corpus Delicti"), in which the character of Columbo did not appear. Link's name was listed first in the billing for the writers at the beginning of the show.

Freed wore a rumpled suit and smoked a cigar to play Columbo, but played the part somewhat straighter than either of his two successors in the role, with few of the familiar Columbo mannerisms. However, the character is still recognizably Columbo and uses some of the same methods of misdirection on his prey. During the course of the show, the increasingly frightened murderer brings pressure from the district attorney's office to have Columbo taken off the case, but the detective fights back with his own contacts. There is one particularly visible mistake in the live telecast (aside from the usual constant boom microphone shadows), with a momentarily flustered Columbo introducing himself to a receptionist as "Dr. Columbo," whereupon she magically deduces that he's actually "Lt. Columbo" when she notifies her supervisor.

Although Bert Freed received third billing, he wound up with almost as much screen time as the killer, once he appeared immediately after the first commercial, several minutes into the show (more or less exactly the same formula used in most of the later Falk shows). Unlike many live television shows, this one continues to exist and is available for viewing in the archives of the Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles.


Thomas Mitchell as Columbo
The "Enough Rope" teleplay in turn was adapted into a stage play called Prescription: Murder with revered character actor Thomas Mitchell in the role; the 70-year-old Mitchell had previously played the drunken Doc in John Ford's Stagecoach (1939), for which he won an Academy Award, as well as Scarlett O'Hara's insane father in Gone with the Wind that same year, and also portrayed the absent-minded Uncle Billy in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The stage production starred two veterans of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre and Citizen Kane: Joseph Cotten as the murderer and Agnes Moorehead as the victim.

Up to this point the writers had regarded Columbo as only a supporting role, but with Mitchell playing the part, they soon found that he was deftly stealing attention away from the stars. Mitchell died while the play was touring in out-of-town tryouts; Columbo was his last role.


Peter Falk as Columbo
Finally, the play was made into a television movie for NBC in 1968. Mitchell had died, and the writers suggested Lee J. Cobb and Bing Crosby for the role, but Cobb was unavailable and Crosby turned it down. Director Richard Irving convinced Levinson and Link that Falk, who wanted the role, could pull it off even though he was much younger than the writers had in mind.

The first TV-movie entitled "Prescription for Murder" has Falk's Columbo pitted against a murdering psychiatrist played by Gene Barry, who is uncovered, charged, and arrested. The second TV-movie/pilot (1971) was "Ransom For a Dead Man" with Lee Grant playing the killer, who is also caught by Columbo.

The popularity of the second pilot prompted creation of a regular series on NBC that premiered the fall of 1971 as part of the wheel series NBC Mystery Movie, initially on Wednesday night. Columbo was an immediate hit in the Nielsen ratings. Falk won an Emmy Award for his role in the first year of the series, and the character quickly became an icon on American television. In the second season it was moved, along with the other shows in the Mystery Movie rotation, to Sunday nights and ran for a total seven seasons. After cancellation in 1978, it was revived in occasional made-for-television movies on ABC.


Portrayal by Peter Falk
Columbo's wardrobe was provided by Peter Falk himself; they were his own clothes.

Peter Falk would often ad-lib "Columbo-isms" (fumbling through pockets for a piece of evidence and discovering a grocery list, asking to borrow a pencil, becoming distracted by something irrelevant in the room at a dramatic point in a conversation with a suspect, etcetera) into his performance as a way to keep his fellow actors off-balance. He felt it helped to make their characters' confused/impatient reactions to Columbo's antics more genuine.


Columbo's car
Lt. Columbo's battered car is a 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet convertible, which Falk selected personally upon seeing it in a parking lot at Universal Studios. When Columbo boasts that it's a rare automobile, he isn't lying: from from June 1956 to July 1961, 2050 were produced. Only 504 were produced for model year 1959. In "Identity Crisis", Columbo tells the murderer that his is one of only three in the country.

The car was the first car to be designed for Peugeot by Pininfarina. Peugeot claims that the 403 was acknowledged at the time of its release as the most efficient gasoline powered vehicle in the world.

The 403 is the first mass-produced car in the world to have an automatic fan which is controlled by engine temperature, and was the first from Peugeot to feature a curved windshield At its launch in 1956, the MSRP was FF 1,300,000.

Columbo wrecks the car at least four times: in Make Me a Perfect Murder when he t-bones one police car and is hit from behind by another while trying to repair his rear view mirror; in A Matter of Honor when he rear-ends another car; in Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health when it takes him three tries to crash into the killer's car; and in Old Fashioned Murder when he crashes into the back of a police car as he arrives at the murder scene. He also has many other problems with the car, see this site for a complete history

During the show's initial run on NBC, the licence number was 044-APD. The car was sold and when the show resurfaced on ABC in 1989, the car was found in Ohio and the car received a new licence number, 448-DBZ.


Series description
The series is noted by TV critics and historians for the way it reversed the clichés of the standard whodunit story (TV Guide has referred to the basic plot structure as a "howcatchem", though it is more properly known as an inverted detective story, a subgenre created by the British writer Richard Austin Freeman).

In a typical murder mystery, the identity of the murderer is not revealed until the climax of the story, and the hero uncovers clues pointing to the killer. In most episodes of Columbo, the audience sees the crime unfold at the beginning and knows exactly who did it and how it was done; the "mystery" from the audience's perspective is spotting the clues that will lead Columbo to discover and expose the killer's guilt. This allows the story to unfold more from the criminal's point of view, rather than that of Columbo himself; in fact, in some episodes, Columbo doesn't even appear until as late as 30 minutes into the story, the preceding time being taken up by depicting the often-complex nature of the crime, including the history between the killer and the victim. There are some interesting exceptions to this: namely the quite enjoyable episode, Double Shock (Season 2, Episode 8) where the episode begins in the usual manner but as the plot unfolds, it is revealed that the murderer has an identical twin with equal motive to the murder thus leaving the audience uncertain about the identity of the murderer.

As a result, a Columbo mystery tends to be driven by the characters rather than by technical procedures or the gathering of clues. We observe as the criminal reacts to the ongoing investigation, and the increasingly-intrusive presence of Lt. Columbo. Columbo's personality and manners are initially disarming and non-intimidating and the killer feels safe and 'helps' Columbo with his investigation. Inevitably, the murderer discovers that the Lieutenant isn't nearly as simple or scatterbrained as he appears, and their level of irritation, arrogance, or panic escalates as the noose begins to tighten. Usually Columbo successfully manipulates the murderer into incriminating him or herself, often using extremely unorthodox methods.

This predictability and the quirky mannerisms of Columbo – partly his natural personality, partly an affectation to give him an edge in his investigations – are part of the attraction of the series. In some instances (such as Ruth Gordon's avenging mystery writer, Janet Leigh's mentally ill diva, Donald Pleasence's vintner or even Vera Miles' besieged industrialist) the killer is more sympathetic than the victim or victims.

Columbo rarely displays anger toward the usually well-to-do killers. In an impromptu speech to a ladies' club meeting hosted by Ruth Gordon's character, at which he shows up uninvited, he admitted that over the course of many of his investigations, he grew to like and respect some of his suspects. On the few occasions when Columbo gets irritated, as in the scene where he picks up an object from a physicians's desk, and slams it against the table (with Leonard Nimoy as the physician/killer) in 1971's "A Stitch in Crime"), the viewer is left with the mistaken impression that the loss of temper is genuine. However this is usually not the case.

Columbo rarely carries a gun, and he is never required to exercise physical force – when the final arrest comes, the killer always goes quietly (though at least two suspects have tried to kill Columbo in the end, only to find their means of murder circumvented by Columbo beforehand). However, he's been known to drop his usual disarming act and become openly aggressive and intimidating when circumstances require it.

The episodes are movie-length, between 70 and 100 minutes long, excluding commercials. The series was and remains very popular in Britain, where the similarity to the British model of the drawing-room mystery was much appreciated, as was the use of several British guest stars (in the original series).

Peter Falk, who played Columbo, has a glass right eye and it remained a mystery whether this glass eye "played the part of a real eye" (i.e., did the Columbo character have one or two eyes) for 25 years until 1997's Columbo: A Trace of Murder where upon asking a character to revisit the crime scene with him, he jokes “You know, three eyes are better than one.”

During the first incarnation of the series, it was widely believed in Hollywood that Columbo's "wife" was a fictional ploy that he used for conversation with his prey and that the character actually lived alone in a furnished room; Falk is reported in magazine profiles to have strongly believed this, but in at least one episode – "Troubled Waters" – other characters describe meeting and speaking to Mrs. Columbo, although she never appears on screen. In three other episodes, "An Exercise in Fatality", "Any Old Port In A Storm", and "Rest in Peace, Mrs Columbo", he is seen ostensibly talking to her on the telephone.

In the episode "Identity Crisis", the character played by Patrick McGoohan bugs Columbo's home and learns his wife's favourite piece of music. In the episode, "Rest in Peace, Mrs Columbo", Columbo states that his wife loves Chopin, and describes her as being busy with church, volunteering at the hospital, watching her sister's children, and walking the dog five times a day. He notes that she has a sister named Ruth, and later while talking with his wife on the phone, refers to her sister Rita.


Guest contributions

Directors/writers
Steven Spielberg and Jonathan Demme each directed episodes of the show during its first run. Jonathan Latimer and Steven Bochco were once writers.

Ben Gazzara directed episodes "Troubled Waters" (1975) and "A Friend in Deed" (1974).

Peter Falk himself directed the last episode of the 1st season, "Blueprint For Murder".

Nicholas Colasanto, who acted in Raging Bull and Cheers (as Coach), directed some episodes, including "Swan Song" with Johnny Cash. However, "Étude in Black", which is credited to Colasanto, was actually co-directed by its co-stars John Cassavetes and Peter Falk as a favor to their friend Colasanto. This has given rise to the false rumor that Cassavetes sometimes directed under the pseudonym Nicholas Colasanto.

Patrick McGoohan directed five episodes (including three of the four in which he played the murderer) and wrote and produced two (including one of these).

Vincent McEveety was a frequent director, and homage was paid to him by a humorous mention of a character with his surname in the episode "Undercover" (which he directed).


Guest stars
Columbo was noted for its high-profile guest stars. Frequently, viewers were treated to seeing their favorite film and television stars as either the murderer or victim. See miscellaneous (below) for actors who played other roles, such as friends, relatives, witnesses, etc., rather than murderers or victims.

Noted actors appearing on Columbo include:

Murderers Anthony Andrews, Eddie Albert, Richard Basehart, Anne Baxter, Ed Begley, Jr., Theodore Bikel, Honor Blackman, Ian Buchanan, Johnny Cash, John Cassavetes, Jack Cassidy, Susan Clark, Billy Connolly, Robert Conrad, Jackie Cooper, Robert Culp, Tyne Daly, Faye Dunaway, Dick Van Dyke, Hector Elizondo, José Ferrer, Ruth Gordon, George Hamilton, Laurence Harvey, Lee Grant, Louis Jourdan, Richard Kiley, Martin Landau (as identical twin brothers), Janet Leigh, Ross Martin, Roddy McDowall, Patrick McGoohan, Vera Miles, Ray Milland, Ricardo Montalban, Leonard Nimoy, Donald Pleasence, Clive Revill, William Shatner, Helen Shaver, Fisher Stevens, Rip Torn, Trish Van Devere, Robert Vaughn, George Wendt, Oskar Werner, Nicol Williamson Patrick McGoohan appeared in a record four episodes of Columbo. Robert Culp and Jack Cassidy both appeared three times as murderers. Culp appeared a fourth time as the father of a collegiate killer. Ray Milland, Dean Stockwell, George Hamilton, William Shatner and Robert Vaughn all appeared in two episodes. Hamilton played the killer both times; Vaughn played both killer and victim, and Milland played both killer and the husband of the victim (Pat Crowley, killed by Culp).
Victims Lola Albright, Richard Anderson, Sorrell Booke, Barbara Colby, Anjanette Comer, Pat Crowley, John Dehner, Greg Evigan, Joel Fabiani, Nina Foch, Anne Francis, Charles Frank, James Gregory, Deidre Hall, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Sam Jaffe, John Kerr, Jack Kruschen, Ida Lupino, Rue McClanahan, Martin Milner, Sal Mineo, Rosemary Murphy, Nehemiah Persoff, Martha Scott, Pippa Scott, Martin Sheen, Mickey Spillane, Dean Stockwell, Forrest Tucker, Robert Vaughn, John Williams, Jeff Yagher


Miscellaneous guest stars
Actors such as Diane Baker, Priscilla Barnes, Ed Begley, Jr., Barbara Colby, Kim Cattrall, Sondra Currie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Samantha Eggar, Blythe Danner, Fionnuala Flanagan, John Fraser, Jeff Goldblum, Valerie Harper, Walter Koenig, Donald Moffat, Pat Morita, Richard Pearson, Suzanne Pleshette, Gena Rowlands, Katey Sagal (whose father Boris Sagal directed several episodes), Cynthia Sikes and James B. Sikking had small roles early in their careers.

Peter Falk's real-life wife, Shera Danese, appeared in six Columbo episodes in various roles.

More seasoned actors to appear, later in their careers, included Don Ameche, Bernard Fox, Will Geer, Julie Harris, Edith Head (as herself), Kim Hunter, Jessie Royce Landis, Robert Loggia, Myrna Loy, Juliet Mills, Julie Newmar, Leslie Nielsen, Janis Paige, John Payne, Vincent Price, Kate Reid, Rod Steiger and William Windom.


Recurring actors/roles
Actors J. P. Finnegan (6 times), Michael Lally (40+ times), Vito Scotti (6 times), Bruce Kirby (8 appearances, 4 of them as Sergeant Kramer), Bob Dishy (as Sergeant Wilson in two episodes), Dr. Benson (Columbo's dog's vet, played by Michael Fox in two episodes) and Burt (the chili dispenser at Columbo's favorite greasy spoon, played by Timothy Carey) played recurring characters.


Spin-off
The very idea of a show about Mrs. Columbo was opposed by series creators Levinson and Link, as well as by Peter Falk. In an interview with Columbo Phile author Mark Dawidziak published prior to the 1989 Columbo revival, Richard Levinson joked, "If there was ever another Columbo, we were going to have him say, 'There's a woman running around pretending to be my wife. She's changing things. She's a young girl. I wish my wife was like that. She's an imposter.'"

Nonetheless, a spin-off TV series titled Mrs. Columbo starring Kate Mulgrew was aired in 1979, but it received a dismal reception and was swiftly cancelled. It especially disappointed fans of the original movies, as Mrs. Columbo was often referred to, but never seen. The mystery of what Columbo's often-talked about wife was "really" like was an important part of the original show's appeal, and showing an actual Mrs. Columbo seemed to take something away from the Columbo mystique.

Columbo himself was never seen on Mrs. Columbo. However, certain obvious connections were made to the original Columbo series, notably the presence of Columbo's beat-up car and pet dog in the show's opening sequence. As well, references were made to Kate's husband being a police lieutenant. However, there were also notable discrepancies between the two shows. Kate's physical appearance did not match up with certain descriptions Lt. Columbo had provided of his wife in various Columbo episodes over the years — this "Mrs. Columbo" was too young and too thin to be the wife described in Columbo movies. (In fact, Mulgrew was only 24 when the Mrs. Columbo series premiered, meaning that she was only 13 when Falk started playing Columbo and made the earliest references to his wife.)

Furthermore, in the episode "Double Exposure", Lt. Columbo declared that his wife "had no head for crime" and that she "always picked the wrong guy as the murderer" whenever they watched a mystery movie. Kate's mystery solving exploits in this series run counter to that description.

Due to the negative critical and public reaction to the show, the producers fairly quickly started making changes. The spin-off was renamed Kate Columbo, followed by Kate the Detective and finally Kate Loves a Mystery. The main character was likewise renamed "Kate Callahan", and all references to and ties with the original Columbo show were dropped — the character was no longer supposed to be Mrs. Columbo or have any connection with him at all. Despite (or perhaps because of) all the attempts to fix it, the series lasted only thirteen episodes.

An episode of Mrs. Columbo was included as a bonus feature on the Region 1 DVD releases of the third, fourth and fifth seasons.

The "true" name and identity of Mrs Columbo has in fact been provided by the Lieutenant himself. In a 1978 episode of the NBC series "Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts" (released on DVD in 2003) the man of the hour is Frank Sinatra and one the guests paying tribute is Peter Falk, entirely in character as Lt Columbo. Columbo pesters Sinatra into autographing a napkin, to be signed to himself and Mrs. Columbo. He then asks him to change it, putting "the missus" name first... before finally settling on "actually, even better... just put 'to Rose'" In the episode "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo", he notes that his wife has a sister named Ruth, and later while talking with her on the phone, refers to her sister Rita. His wife, and her two sisters may thus have been named Rose, Ruth, and Rita.


First name

The signature of Lt. Frank Columbo?Columbo's first name was never spoken aloud in the series. (In "Columbo: Undercover" when asked for a first name, he replies "Lieutenant".) However, recent DVD releases reveal that Columbo's first name may be shown on an ID badge he carries.


The 'Philip Columbo' controversy
Several sources cite the lieutenant's name as "Philip Columbo", variously claiming that the name was either in the original script for Prescription: Murder or that it was visible on his police badge. For instance: "A rumour that Columbo's first name — which is never mentioned by him on screen — is actually Peter has been denied by the star: if he has a name at all, says Falk, it is Philip, which was the name used in the original story, Prescription: Murder."[1] Peugeot even ran an advertising campaign that mentioned "Lt. Philip Columbo" as the most famous driver of the Peugeot 403 convertible.

The name "Philip Columbo" was, in fact, invented by Fred L. Worth, author of The Trivia Encyclopedia, who planted the fictitious entry about Columbo's first name in his book (and its sequels) as a copyright trap in an attempt to catch anyone who might try to violate his copyright. Worth's ploy was, however, only partially successful.

In 1984, Worth filed a $300 million lawsuit against the distributors of the board game Trivial Pursuit, claiming that they had sourced their questions from his book, even to the point of reproducing misprints and typographical errors. The ace up his sleeve was "Philip Columbo" which had appeared in a game question about Lt. Columbo, despite the name 'Philip' being an invention of Worth's.

The makers of Trivial Pursuit did not deny that they sourced material from Worth's book, but argued that there was nothing improper about using that book simply as one of the many sources from which the game's material originated. The judge agreed, ruling in favor of Trivial Pursuit and the case was thrown out of court.


Columbo's first name – revealed?
Probably the closest thing to a definitive answer came to light following the release of the first series on DVD. In the episode "Dead Weight", Columbo introduces himself to General Hollister and the audience is shown a brief close-up of Columbo's badge, complete with a signature. Though difficult to read when viewed at normal speed, when the image of the badge is paused the signature appears to read "Frank Columbo". The same ID badge is seen in numerous other episodes, with the signature "Frank Columbo" clearly visible in the season 5 episode "A Matter of Honor".

Universal Studios, in the boxset release of seasons 1-4 under their Playback label, included a picture of Columbo's police badge on the back of the box, with signature "Frank Columbo" and the name "Lt. Frank Columbo" in type. This appears to be a different badge from the one seen in "Dead Weight", with a different signature.

Nonetheless, Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link, as well as star Peter Falk, have always insisted that Columbo's first name was never revealed. Its apparent disclosure on the badge, therefore, may have been unintentional.


Biography of Lt. Columbo
The following details of Lt. Columbo's life have been gleaned from statements the character has made or observations of the characters behavior in the show. He may have been lying about any or all of these to establish a rapport with the person he was speaking to, though some facts, like his marriage, have enough other support to establish them as definitely factual.

Columbo was born and raised in New York City in a neighborhood near Chinatown. The Columbo household included the future policeman's grandfather, parents, five brothers and a sister. His brother-in-law is a lawyer. His father wore glasses and did the cooking when his mother was in the hospital having another baby. His grandfather "was a tailgunner on a beer truck during Prohibition" and let him stomp the grapes when they made wine in the cellar. He is Italian on both sides, though he professes to be "the only Italian who can't sing."

Peter Falk has stated during an interview on Inside the Actor's Studio that he wasn't truly sure how many relatives Columbo had aside from his wife.

Columbo's father, who never earned more than $5,000 a year, taught him how to play pool, an obsession that stuck with the future detective. His boyhood hero was Joe DiMaggio, and he also liked gangster pictures.

Hardly a model child, Columbo broke street lamps, played pinball and ran with a crowd of boys that enjoyed a good prank. The trick of putting a potato in a car exhaust — which purportedly prevents the car from starting without causing permanent damage — served well on one of his cases. He became a cop in part to make up for these juvenile pranks.

During high school, he dropped chemistry and took wood shop. While dating a girl named Theresa in high school, he met his future wife. After serving in the Army during the Korean War, Columbo joined the New York City police force and was assigned to the 12th precinct. He trained under Sergeant Gilhooley, a genial Irishman who tried to teach him the game of darts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1958. While studying to make Detective, he acknowledged that he had nowhere near the smarts of his fellow candidates. But he determined that he could even the odds by working harder than any of them... by reading all of the books and paying attention to every detail.

Columbo is compulsive about little details. Little things keep him awake at night and he likes to bounce ideas off his wife. The Columbos have an unknown number of children and a basset hound named Dog.

Columbo hates guns and almost never carries one. He had such low confidence in his ability to pass a routine departmental marksmanship test that he convinced a fellow officer to take the test for him.

Columbo prefers to drive his trademark, dirty 1959 Peugeot 403 convertible (which is equipped with a police radio) rather than an official LAPD car while on duty. He is prone to airsickness and seasickness and he can't swim — though he's been known to row a rowboat. He is squeamish and doesn't like hospitals or autopsies, or even looking at photographs of 'messy' murders.

He's also afraid of heights. "To tell you the truth," he explained to an FAA investigator who offered him a job, "I don't even like being this tall."

Columbo's reputation among his front-office superiors at the LAPD tends to vary from person to person. Some regard him with poorly-hidden distaste, put off by his apparently slipshod techniques. Yet he is often specifically assigned to high-profile cases that require the Department's most skilled investigator. He is uniformly respected and defended by people who have worked with him to the conclusion of a case.

His trademark costume (raincoat over salmon-colored jacket and pants, with bone-colored dress shirt and green rayon tie) never varies from case to case or year to year. When "on duty" he is never seen without it, except in rare cases when circumstances (such as a formal event) require alternate attire. He takes his "uniform" so seriously that when a murder was committed while he was enjoying a Mexican cruise with his wife, Columbo changed out of his cruisewear and wore his familiar suit exclusively until the case was solved.

He is not good with numbers. He likes cooking, limericks, Westerns, Italian opera, Strauss waltzes, golf (which he is very good at), classical music, bowling, and American football on television. He also plays the tuba. He is a self-proclaimed expert at tuning in TV sets. In 1972, he made $11,000 a year. He is extremely stingy and for his 25th wedding anniversary, rather than buying his wife silver he considered taking her camping. His parents and his grandfather are dead. His favorite food is chili with crackers ("It's the crackers that make the dish", he comments in "Ransom for a Dead Man"), which he eats at a greasy spoon. In early episodes (served by Burt) and in later episodes (served by Barney himself) he gets his chili at the famous -- and very real -- Barney's Beanery. In later episodes he is found eating chili at various different places, but he is a "regular" at each chili spot that we see him patronize, and is familiar to the staff, with whom he often chews over a case. Columbo also loves coffee and drinks it black. Columbo rarely drinks alcohol but has been known to drink the occasional beer, glass of wine, or spirit, and isn't above sharing one last drink with someone he's about to put away. He also eats raisins and candy, which he has been known to carry in his pocket and offer round — especially at uncomfortable moments during one of his unassuming interrogations. When called to a case in the early hours he brings a hard-boiled egg to serve as his breakfast. He loves cigars (usually of the stubby, very smelly, "Toscano" variety), which he smokes regularly (although more than once he gives up smoking during the series, only to restart in the next episode). He speaks Italian (though he states he does not to the Italian mob in an episode where he is kidnapped by the mob) and a little Spanish. He is a whistler — in almost every episode you can hear him whistle the children's song "This Old Man". If he doesn't whistle it, it appears somewhere else, such as in the underscore.

Columbo opening


Columbo - Doughnut Scene


Stitch In Crime Ending


Columbo - Credits Theme