Peter Falk
Wim Wenders has paid a touching tribute to late Columbo star Peter Falk in a heartwarming essay, recalling the early days of their friendship.
The beloved actor passed away at the age of 83 last month (Jun11) and Wenders has posted an essay online, in which he recalls working with Falk on the set of his 1987 film Wings of Desire.
Describing the shoot in Berlin, Wenders writes, "Rarely a shoot was so much fun as those days with Peter Falk. Everybody recognised him, of course. As soon as you stood in the street with him, people showed up from everywhere...
"I never saw anybody deal with his fame so generously and kindly. Peter Falk shook everybody's hands, smiled at everybody, gave everybody an autograph, had everybody spell their funny German names, had his picture taken with everybody! With no exception! And everybody walked away happily: 'I met Columbo!'"
But Falk caused a headache for Wenders every time he decided to explore the city - because he always got lost.
Wenders continues, "Peter loved Berlin... The only drawback was his lack of any sense of direction.
"In any break he just wanted to go for a walk. 'Go spazieren', an expression he knew from his Grandmother. And he never found his way back to the set!
"Once we even had to call the police to search for him. (When they finally found him and brought him back, he knew all the officers by their first names)."
Signing off the essay, published by People.com, he writes, "Wim Wenders, on a sad day in Berlin".