Peter Falk: I joined the merchant navy they allowed crew with one eye

In early 1996, technically to help promote the film Roommates, I got to drink whisky and talk Columbo with Peter Falk in a hotel bar in a chilly Paris (many are cold but few are frozen, Falk said). My key question was whether Columbo like Falk himself is supposed to be one-eyed. Or are his eyes crossed, or squinting from the sun? replied Falk with a beaming face. Or is his eye noticing the suspects teeth mark in the cheese? Your guess is as good as mine.

Falks earliest memory was eating an apple while in hospital to have a cancerous eye removed at three years old. They wouldnt take me in the navy because of my glass eye, he fast-forwarded. So I joined the merchant navy who allowed monocular crew, if you worked in the kitchens. Youre not wanted on deck or in the engine room with one eye, but youre good to fire up the ovens and cook hundreds of chops.