Gone today at 83.
No cause listed but had Alzheimer's for several years. Lost an eye to cancer as a child and was told he could never be in movies.
No surveying connection, but my first ride up Mount Diablo to see the meridian mark was in a '66 Pugeot convertible, four on the column, same year and model as Columbo's primer gray version.
"Just one more thing......"
A New York kid, born in the City and raised in Ossining, he acted in Broadway and Off-Broadway roles before getting into the movies. Mostly supporting roles, with two Oscar nominations in the early 1960's.
After that, he seemed to be all over movies and TV.....Twilight Zone, Kraft Television Hour, Studio One, Naked City, Dick Powell's Anthology series, etc. And of course, the famous Columbo, which started out as an anthology with two other series, McCloud and McMillan and Wife.
He befriended John Cassavetes, and appeared several of his movies, Husbands, Opening Night, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and A Woman Under the Influence.
Younger movie-goers would know him as the grandfather who read the story of The Princess Bride.
Columbo and the NBC Mystery Movie...a reason to stay up late.
FWIW...
Back in the mid 70s, we lived on the golf course in Marco Island. Ken Venturi held an annual charity tournament that attracted many Hollywood stars including Columbo. My 10 year-old sister would run out to the tee behind our house to get autographs as each group passed. Most of the stars would sign, but Peter Falk put his arm around her and walked with her all the way down the par 5 fairway. Super nice guy.
RIP
I think I've heard of McMillan and Wife, but not seen it. Don't remember ever hearing of McCloud.
Columbo is a different story. In fact, I just happened to be watching an episode of Columnbo last night (Thursday). It was an old one starring Leslie Nielson and Richard Anderson ("Oscar" from The $6,000,000 Man, not MacGyver).
Story goes that his famous trench coat was the coat the he was wearing when he walked in on the first day on the Colombo job.
I watch a lot (translated in French) when I was young. Enjoyable.
:beer:
I liked Columbo!!
One of his best parts was as the book reader/narrator in "The Princess Bride"
McCloud was loosely based on the Clint Eastwood movie "Coogan's Bluff".
Dennis Weaver was a sherriff from NM (Ariz?) on temporary assgnment in NYC.A fish out of water kind of scenario, where the westerner often solved crime better than NYPD.
I remember Dennis Weaver riding a horse down some NYC avenue in the opening sequence.
Columbo is a good example of why you should exercise your 5th Amendment rights.