What is the name of the fictional detective played by Peter Falk in Columbo?

Peter Falk played Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo.

Columbo is a Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective whose apparently absent-minded manner conceals sharp observation and persistence. Most episodes reveal the killer and the crime near the beginning, turning the mystery into a “howcatchem” rather than a conventional whodunit.

Falk played the character from the 1968 television pilot Prescription: Murder through the series and later television films. Columbo usually wears a rumpled raincoat, drives an old Peugeot, and returns to suspects with his familiar phrase, “Just one more thing.”

The character’s first name is never clearly established in the regular series. That is why “Lieutenant Columbo” is the safest canonical answer, rather than attempting to supply a personal name. The role made Falk one of television’s best-known crime performers.