Peter Falk Quotes
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When I was a kid, the idea of gettin' paid to paint your face... listen, I grew up in Ossining, New York, a nice little town by the Hudson, and nothin' ever interested me except being your usual high school big shot, which I was an' loved it, played all the sports and goofed around, always out on the street with the guys, everything was funny t'me.
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Children ran up to me shouting, 'Columbo!' At first, it gave me great pleasure, but later, I said to myself that those children should have had their own heroes instead of admiring a cop from Los Angeles.
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Along came a police lieutenant named Columbo, and my life would never be the same.
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My idea of Heaven is to wake up, have a good breakfast, and spend the rest of the day drawing.
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There were no artists in Ossining, which was the home of Sing Sing prison. Most of the parents of the guys I knew were guards there.
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In the beginning, when you're acting in amateur theater and off-Broadway, it was unheard of that anyone else would get your costume. And it was important to get a good costume. You put time into that.
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To be totally sincere, I'd surely be a better actor today if I hadn't played Columbo all these years.
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I love Chicago. It's one of the great cities. I'm crazy about the town. It reminds me of New York when it was at its best, the New York that used to be and is no more. I love the architecture, the old stuff and the new stuff.
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Strange thing, this television.
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What's the name of that famous museum in Paris? The Louvre? I went through that place in 20 minutes.
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When I was young, I was looking for people to look up to - role models I could respect.
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I've worked with some terrific actors. The list of guys that came on the 'Columbo' show, I mean they were world-class actors from all over the world - Oskar Werner, Laurence Harvey, Donald Pleasence, you know... foreigners.
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Even the first year of 'Columbo,' 'Columbo' was Jesus Christ, No. 1, you know.
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Certainly, you envy the guys that have done all kinds of things, a variety of good scripts and good directors. Then again, having worked with Cassavetes has satisfied a big part of that.
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I've been there a thousand years, and I never felt comfortable. Beverly Hills - when I first saw it, I thought they put it up this morning. You got to pack water to get to the drugstore.
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I hate to talk about typecasting, because being typecast as Columbo ain't cancer.
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The entertainment industry is loaded with extraordinarily talented people. But the true, genuine originals, they're rare.
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Acting is like golf: analysis leads to paralysis.
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In the theater, you didn't have any marks. Your instincts in rehearsal told you what the blocking was. On film, they reversed it. They decided ahead of time what your instincts were, before you even arrived.
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My father's whole life was work. He had a retail store in Ossining, New York, and I mean, he was down there at 6:15 every morning. The store didn't open until 9, but he hadda be down there. That's all he knew.
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You think you're in another civilization, another time, and then you see antennas coming out of these hovels, and your mouth falls open when you see the descendants of the Incas shouting 'Columbo! Columbo!'
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They wouldn't take me in the navy because of my glass eye. So I joined the merchant navy, who allowed monocular crew if you worked in the kitchens. You're not wanted on deck or in the engine room with one eye, but you're good to fire up the ovens and cook hundreds of chops.
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Columbo was never comfortable if somebody considered him unique or smart.
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If I'm a guy reading a newspaper, and I hear this actor who I know gets great seats at basketball games, and he's complaining about being typecast, I think, 'Hey man, count your blessings.'