Peter Falk's Eye

"Young man, for the same price I'll get an actor with two eyes."
Harry Cohn, Columbia Pictures



Peter Michael Falk (1927-2011) had a cancerous eye removed at the age of three. The navy did not take him because of his 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." (via). Despite warnings he became an actor, and a very popular one.

As an aspiring actor, he was reportedly warned by one agent the false eye would preclude him from working in television. In fact, it became another endearing trait of his most famous character. (via)

images of Peter Falk and Leonard Nimoy (Columbo, A Stitch in Crime, 1973) via