http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainme ... 1826.story

Legendary "Columbo" star Peter Falk has died at the age of 83. Falk "died peacefully at his Beverly Hills home in the evening of June 23, 2011," a rep tells KTLA.

The actor had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to his adopted daughter, Catherine Falk.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118039074?refCatId=14

Peter Falk became synonymous with one of TV's most enduring franchises with his role as the disheveled and disarming Lt. Columbo. But his long thesping career encompassed everything from John Cassavetes' intense indie dramas to the Broadway stage to Hollywood hits including "The Great Race," "The In-Laws" and "The Princess Bride."

Falk, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia in recent years, died Thursday evening at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 83.

Falk earned four Emmys for his role as the rumpled Los Angeles police detective who famously never disclosed his first name. In the "Columbo" telepics that Universal TV produced for NBC and later ABC from the early 1970s on and off through the early 2000s, Lt. Columbo was always assigned high-profile homicide cases involving L.A.'s rich and famous.