Peter Falk says he supplied ‘Columbo’ coat

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Peter Falk, who played the rumpled, crime-solving police lieutenant in the Columbo television series starting in 1971 and in made-for-TV movies until 2003, said he was dissatisfied with the stylish clothes laid out for him to consider for the show’s debut.

Falk said he brought a shabby old raincoat from home and asked the show’s wardrobe department to dye one of the suits a dull brown.

When told to go pick a car for Columbo on the studio lot, he found nothing to his liking.

“They all looked alike, and then I saw it way in the back, just its nose—an ugly Peugeot,” Falk told The Saginaw News before an area public appearance Tuesday. “And it had the perfect touch … a flat tire.”

Falk, 79, has 13 Emmy, two Oscar and nine Golden Globe nominations. He said he helped create the look as well as the mannerisms of the character that made him famous.

“I love the guy,” Falk said. “I was very lucky to have a character that rich, that I like personally so much. The whole thing was an actor’s dream—getting a character that tickles you so much you can’t wait to act as him.”