Columbo’s Creators Tried To Cast A Legendary Musical Star As The Iconic Detective

It is impossible to picture television’s most famous frumpy detective played by anyone other than Peter Falk. But before the Oscar-nominated “Murder, Inc.” star landed the iconic role of Lieutenant Frank Columbo, the creators of “Columbo” — one of the best detective TV shows of all time — actually had their eyes on a legendary crooner to don the wrinkled beige trench coat.

Columbo, a deceptively bumble-headed LAPD homicide detective, was first introduced in a pair of made-for-TV pilot movies: 1968’s “Prescription: Murder” and 1971’s “Ransom for a Dead Man.” He eventually headlined his own feature-length TV series as part of the NBC Mystery Movie lineup in 1971. Falk, who died in 2011, played the intentionally scatterbrained sleuth across 69 total installments, including two pilot TV movies and 67 regular episodes and television specials between 1968 and 2003. That Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning “Columbo” legacy might not have happened at all if producers nabbed their top pick.

When creators Richard Levinson and William Link were first developing the project, Falk wasn’t first on their list. Instead, they approached Oscar-winning actor and Grammy-winning singer Bing Crosby, whose “White Christmas” holds the Guinness World Record as the best-selling physical single of all time. According to an interview with the Television Academy, they really thought Crosby was their guy. “We wanted Bing Crosby, if anybody can believe this,” Link recalled, “because we were big fans and he was a terrific dramatic actor, if you remember. ‘Man on Fire’ — very, very good. We saw the pipe instead of the cigar. He was very laidback. He could play the humble.”

Columbo’s creators also considered On the Waterfront star Lee J. Cobb

Bing Crosby loved the script and the character, but he ultimately passed. William Link recalled Crosby saying, “Look, I’m retired now. I’m playing golf … I hear television is a real rat race and a meat grinder.” With Crosby turning them down, Link said they next considered acclaimed character actor Lee J. Cobb — best known for “On the Waterfront” — who also didn’t end up getting the part. 

But one day, the creators got a surprise phone call. “I remember I picked it up, and it was Falk,” Link shared, noting they knew the actor from his early theater days in New York. Having snagged a copy of the pilot script for “Prescription: Murder,” Falk didn’t mince words: “I’ll kill to play that cop.” Universal and the showrunners agreed, casting the Oscar-nominated actor without a screen test. It turned out to be what Link called a rare “marriage made in television heaven.”

Falk didn’t just play Columbo; he was Columbo. According to Link, the character shared so many of the actor’s own real-life quirks: “He’s rather sloppy, I think Peter would agree. Wears the same clothes all the time. … He’s forgetful, but in his acting, he’s obsessed. He’s really dead onto it, and he’s just like the cop. Chasing down a murderer, every stone does not go unturned. He’s obsessive, he’s compulsive — in a very humble, self-effacing kind of way.”