Columbo Actor Peter Falk Dead at 83 - Just One More Thing...

I grew up watching Lieutenant Columbo.

I remember getting frustrated at how long it would take him to actually bust the bad guy even though he knew who it was from the very beginning.

With his dirty old raincoat, beat up old car, floppy eared dog, and wife that we never got to meet - Lt. Columbo always knew how to outsmart the crooks.

And here is a little bit of trivia – during the entire Columbo series the viewer was never told what his first name was, and it remains a mystery to this day.

His Shtick was to ask very basic, and sometimes annoying questions, and just as he was walking toward the door to leave he would stop, turn, and say, “Just one more thing…”

And it was always THAT question that got the criminal busted.

But it was entertaining, and little did I know that Peter Falk and Columbo would become an American Icon.



Falk died yesterday at the age of 83 from complications from dementia at his home in Beverly Hills.

Friends say Falk was involved in a bad car accident in 2008 and suffered a bad head injury and was never the same man.

But Falk did much much more than just play Lt. Columbo.

His career started back in 1957 and by the time he retired had been in over 100 movies and TV shows.

Some of the greats included Murder, Inc., The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Murder by Death, The Cheap Detective, The Princess Bride, and others.

Peter Falk was one of the greats - and I expect to see his dirty old raincoat in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum next time I’m in Washington D.C.

Hey, don’t laugh – they have the same “Fonzie” lunchbox there that I had when I was in school.

Feel old yet?

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – and just one more thing…
 

Charlie Sheen Warned Not to Smoke on Stage in Toronto or Face Arrest and Fines

Poor Charlie Sheen.

Earlier today he was chastised by the Warner Bros lawyers for talking about returning to “Two and a Half Men”, and now the Canadian Smoking Police have issued him a stern warning about smoking on stage during his show tonight.

Massey Hall and Toronto city regulations prohibit smoking cigarettes while on stage. Since Sheen is an “on stage” chain smoker this could be by far the hardest show he has ever done.

Ontario Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best said public health inspectors will be watching to make sure Sheen doesn't smoke on stage at Massey Hall during his “Violent Torpedo of Truth” show.

Sheen, one of the stars of the cancelled television show “Two and a Half Men” tweeted on Wednesday that he was looking forward to "winning" with Torontonians.

Good luck with that.

Charlie Sheen in Columbus Show Review – Dull

Sometime funnyman Charlie Sheen rolled through Columbus Ohio last night, and it seems that the troubled troubadour has found his groove.

Kind of.

But that groove, according to fans, may be shallow and none too deep. His show in Columbus was better than his disastrous show in Detroit where he was booed off the stage, but there was very little actual comedy and a lot of angry Charlie ranting about tiger blood and Vatican assigns.

“He thinks he can just get up on a stage and repeat all the catch phrases he has created and people will laugh. Some did, but most of us were looking for something a little deeper.”

True. In fact, some fans leaving the theater said Sheen looked a bit run down, his voice was hoarse, and he seemed tired.

He was once again tossed easy questions from his moderator, and talked about smoking crack, spending money, hanging out with porn stars, and partying with all the famous people in Hollywood.

But is that what he plans to do every night for the remaining seventeen shows? If so, things are going to be really stale by the end of the tour.

There were a few empty seats and some audience members said they had paid $100 for their ticket, there was also the sense that this was like a big fraternity party and everybody was there to drink.

Time will tell, after a day off and a chance to refine things yet again, Sheen will make his grand appearance at “Radio City Music Hall” in New York on April 8.

One thing we know about New Yorker’s is, if they don’t like something – we’ll hear about it.