The role that would eventually become synonymous with Peter Falk, Lt. Columbo, was originally offered to what legendary crooner, who turned it down?
Columbo of cancer while the play was touring in out-of-town tryouts; Columbo was his last role. In 1968, the same play was made into a two-hour television movie that aired on NBC. The writers suggested Lee J. Cobb and Bing Crosby for the role of Columbo, but Cobb was unavailable and Crosby turned it down because he felt it would take too much time away from the golf links. 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. Originally a one-off
Peter Falk Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American actor, known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series "Columbo" (1968–2003), for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards (1972, 1975, 1976, 1990) and a Golden Globe Award (1973). He first starred as Columbo in two 90-minute TV pilots; the first with Gene Barry in 1968 and the second with Lee Grant in 1971. The show then aired as part of "The NBC Mystery Movie" series from 1971 to 1978, and again on ABC from 1989 to 2003. Falk was twice