Career: While working in Hartford, Falk joined a local theatre group called the Mark Twain Masquers. He also took acting classes at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1956, he moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He made his professional stage debut in an Off-Broadway production of Moliere's Dom Juan - it closed after just one performance. He had better luck with other Broadway roles. After a number of small film parts, Falk was praised for his supporting role in Murder, Inc. (1960), for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. In 1961, he starred in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles and earned his second Academy Award nomination. Falk continued to make films and make guest appearances on TV shows. He is best known as the star of the TV detective series Columbo, which he first played in the 1968 TV movie Prescription: Murder. He went on to play the crumpled detective on and off on TV between 1971 until 2003. Falk died at his Beverly Hills home on June 23, 2011 at the age of 83.