Editing Peter Falk (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Peter Falk HS Yearbook.jpeg|thumb|Falk as a senior in high school, 1945]]
Born in [[The Bronx]], New York City, Falk was the son of Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and [[dry goods]] store, and his wife, Madeline (née Hochhauser).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nycplus.com/nyc18/just79morethings.html | title =Jerry Tallmer: Just 79 more things | publisher = NYC plus | date = September 16, 1927 | access-date =June 26, 2011}}</ref> Both his parents were Jewish.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-24/peter-falk-television-s-rumpled-detective-columbo-dies-at-83.html | title = Peter Falk, TV's Rumpled 'Columbo' for More Than Three Decades, Dies at 83 | date = June 24, 2011 | publisher = Bloomberg}}</ref>

Falk's right eye was surgically removed when he was three because of a [[retinoblastoma]].{{efn |This fact is alluded to in the 1997 ''Columbo'' episode "A Trace of Murder" (Series 13, episode 2), where Detective Columbo invites a colleague to help interview a suspect, stating, "three eyes are better than one".}} He wore an [[Ocular prosthetics|artificial eye]] for most of his life.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/2154:2733/1/Peter_Falk.htm| title =Peter Falk| publisher =[[Bio. (UK)]]|  website= thebiographychannel.co.uk | access-date =January 30, 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090610231503/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/2154:2733/1/Peter_Falk.htm| archive-date =June 10, 2009| df =mdy-all}}</ref> The artificial eye was the cause of his trademark [[squint]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.biography.com/people/peter-falk-9291304 |title= Peter Falk Biography |publisher= Biography |access-date= January 9, 2014 |archive-date= January 19, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190119101511/https://www.biography.com/people/peter-falk-9291304 |url-status= dead }}</ref> Despite this limitation, as a boy he participated in team sports, mainly baseball and basketball. In a 1997 interview in ''[[Cigar Aficionado]]'' magazine with [[Arthur Marx]], Falk said: 
{{blockquote|I remember once in high school the [[umpire]] called me out at third base when I was sure I was safe. I got so mad I took out my glass eye, handed it to him and said, 'Try this.' I got such a laugh you wouldn't believe."<ref name= 'Cigar'>{{cite news| first= Arthur |last= Marx|author-link=Arthur Marx| title= Talk with Falk|date=November–December 1997| url= http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,48,00.html| work=[[Cigar Aficionado]] |access-date= February 2, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100127184152/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,48,00.html|archive-date=January 27, 2010| df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

Falk's first stage appearance was at age 12 in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' at [[Camp High Point]]<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.camphighpoint.com/falk.html | title = Famous Alumni | publisher = Camp High Point | access-date =October 18, 2010}}</ref> in upstate New York, where one of his camp counselors was [[Ross Martin]].{{efn|They later acted together in ''[[The Great Race]]'' and the ''Columbo'' episode "Suitable For Framing".}} Falk attended [[Ossining High School]] in [[Westchester County, New York]], where he was a star athlete and president of his senior class.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 24, 2023 |title=Peter Falk – aka, Lieutenant Columbo |url=https://ossininghistoryontherun.com/2023/07/24/peter-falk-aka-lieutenant-columbo/ |access-date=March 4, 2024 |website=Ossining History on the Run |language=en}}</ref> He graduated in 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 18, 2012 |title=Ossining High School Hall of Fame and Museum seeks oldest living OHS graduate. |url=https://patch.com/new-york/ossining/ev--ossining-high-school-hall-of-fame-and-museum-seekb0083cbd73 |access-date=March 4, 2024 |website=Ossining-Croton-On-Hudson, NY Patch |language=en}}</ref>

Falk briefly attended [[Hamilton College (New York)|Hamilton College]] in [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York|Clinton, New York]]. He then tried to join the armed services, as [[World War II]] was drawing to a close. Rejected because of his missing eye, he joined the [[United States Merchant Marine]] and served as a cook and mess boy. Falk said of the experience in 1997: "There they don't care if you're blind or not. The only one on a ship who has to see is the captain. And in the case of the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'', he couldn't see very well, either."<ref name= 'Cigar' /> Falk recalled in his autobiography: 
{{blockquote|A year on the water was enough for me, so I returned to college. I didn't stay long. Too itchy. What to do next? I signed up to go to Israel to fight in the war on its attack on Egypt. I wasn't passionate about Israel, I wasn't passionate about Egypt—I just wanted more excitement&nbsp;… I got assigned a ship and departure date but the war was over before the ship ever sailed.{{Sfn | Falk | 2006 |p = 20}}}}

After a year and a half in the Merchant Marine, Falk returned to Hamilton College and also attended the [[University of Wisconsin]]. He transferred to [[The New School for Social Research]] in New York City, which awarded him a bachelor's degree in literature and political science in 1951.

Falk traveled in Europe and worked on a railroad in [[Yugoslavia]] for six months.{{Sfn | Falk | 2006 |p = 26}} He returned to New York, enrolling at [[Syracuse University]],<ref name='Cigar' /> but he recalled in his 2006 memoir, ''Just One More Thing'', that he was unsure what he wanted to do with his life for years after leaving high school.{{Sfn | Falk | 2006 | p = 17}} Falk obtained a [[Master of Public Administration]] degree at the [[Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs|Maxwell School]] of Syracuse University in 1953. The program was designed to train civil servants for the federal government, a career that Falk said in his memoir he had "no interest in and no aptitude for."{{Sfn | Falk | 2006 | p = 29}}