Daughter of Columbo star Peter Falk dies by suicide aged 60

Jackie Falk, one of Peter Falk’s daughters, has died at 60 years old in California (Picture: Margaret C. Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Jacqueline Falk – the daughter of actor Peter Falk, who was known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in Columbo – has died at the age of 60.

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office told TMZ that Jacqueline died by suicide in California this week.

She was one of Falk’s two adopted daughters.

He and his first wife, Alyce Mayo, whom he married in 1960, adopted Jacqueline and her sister Catherine during their marriage. The couple later divorced in 1976.

A year after their separation, Falk married actress Shera Danese, who went on to make multiple appearances in Columbo across its long run.

They were together until his death in June 2011, and the actor’s headstone reads, ‘I’m not here. I’m home with Shera.’

She largely stayed out of the public eye, only occasionally appearing with her father (Picture: Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images)

Falk died at the age of 83 after living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

At the time of his passing, his daughters said they would remember his ‘wisdom and humor.’

Peter was best known for his iconic portrayal of the rumpled but razor-sharp detective Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running series Columbo, which first appeared in the late 1960s.

Beyond Columbo, Falk had a successful film career, earning two Academy Award nominations for Murder, Inc. and Pocketful of Miracles.

He also appeared in a wide range of projects, from John Cassavetes’ independent films to mainstream hits like The Princess Bride, where he played the beloved grandfather.

Over the course of his career, he won multiple Emmy Awards and became widely regarded as one of the most distinctive TV actors of his generation.

Peter Falk was known for his role in Columbo (Picture: Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

In the years following Falk’s death in 2011, Jacqueline’s sister, Catherine, became a prominent advocate for families’ rights after alleging she had been prevented from seeing her father during his final years due to conservatorship arrangements.

She later campaigned for legislation known as ‘Peter Falk’s Law’, designed to protect adult children from being cut off from important medical updates or visitation with incapacitated parents.

The law, first passed in New York, introduced guidelines requiring guardians or conservators to notify family members of serious health developments and death, while also offering legal routes to secure visitation.

Since then, similar legislation has been adopted in more than a dozen US states.

While Jacqueline largely remained out of the public eye, she was part of a family closely connected to one of the most enduring detective series in television history.

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