Editing Peter Falk (section)

===Early television roles===
[[File:Peter Falk in Decoy episode The Comeback (2).jpg|thumb|In ''[[Decoy (TV series)|Decoy]]'' (1959)]]
[[File:Trials of OBrien.JPG|thumb|Peter Falk and [[Joanna Barnes]] from the television program ''[[The Trials of O'Brien]]'' in 1966]]

Falk first appeared on television in 1957, in the dramatic anthology programs that later became known as the "[[Golden Age of Television]]". In 1957, he appeared in one episode of ''[[Robert Montgomery Presents]].'' He was also cast in ''[[Studio One (anthology series)|Studio One]],'' ''[[Kraft Television Theater]],'' ''[[New York Confidential (TV series)|New York Confidential]],'' ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]],'' ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[Have Gun–Will Travel]],'' ''[[The Islanders (TV series)|The Islanders]],'' and ''[[Decoy (TV series)|Decoy]]'' with [[Beverly Garland]] cast as the first female police officer in a series lead. Falk often portrayed unsavory characters on television during the early 1960s. In ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "The Mirror," Falk starred as a paranoid [[Fidel Castro|Castro]]-type revolutionary who, intoxicated with power, begins seeing would-be assassins in a mirror. He also starred in two of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s television series, as a gangster terrified of death in a 1961 episode of ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' and as a homicidal evangelist in 1962's ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]''.<ref name="decades1">{{cite web|url=https://www.decades.com/specials/the-decades-cop-show-binge-all-this-month/16-fascinating-facts-about-peter-falk-and-columbo |title=16 fascinating facts about Peter Falk and 'Columbo' |publisher=Decades.com |date=June 23, 2011 |accessdate=February 27, 2022}}</ref>

In 1961, Falk was nominated for an [[Emmy Award]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/peter-falk|title=Peter Falk|work=Television Academy}}</ref> for his performance in the episode "Cold Turkey" of [[James Whitmore]]'s short-lived series ''[[The Law and Mr. Jones]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. On September 29, 1961, Falk and [[Walter Matthau]] guest-starred in the premiere episode, "The Million Dollar Dump", of ABC's crime drama ''[[Target: The Corruptors]]'', with [[Stephen McNally]] and [[Robert Harland]]. He won an Emmy for "[[The Price of Tomatoes]]," a drama carried in 1962 on ''[[The Dick Powell Show]]''.

In 1961, Falk earned the distinction of becoming the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. He received nominations for his supporting roles in ''Murder, Inc.'' and the television program ''The Law and Mr. Jones''. Incredibly, Falk repeated this double nomination in 1962, being nominated again for a supporting actor role in ''Pocketful of Miracles'' and best actor in "The Price of Tomatoes," an episode of ''The Dick Powell Show'', for which he took home the award.<ref name="decades1"/>

In 1963, Falk and [[Tommy Sands]] appeared in "The Gus Morgan Story" on ABC's ''[[Wagon Train]]'' as brothers who disagreed on the route for a railroad. Falk played the title role of "Gus", and Sands was his younger brother, Ethan Morgan. After Ethan accidentally shoots wagonmaster Chris Hale, played by [[John McIntire]], while in the mountains, Gus has to decide whether to rescue Hale or his brother (suffering from oxygen deprivation). This episode is remembered for its examination of how far a man will persist amid adversity to preserve his own life and that of his brother.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/wagon-train-the-gus-morgan-story-1798221652|title=The Gus Morgan Story|date=August 12, 2010 |publisher=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=May 23, 2012}}</ref>

Having had many roles in film and television during the early 1960s, Falk's first lead in a television series came with CBS's ''[[The Trials of O'Brien]]''. The show ran from 1965 to 1966, its 22 episodes featuring Falk as a Shakespeare-quoting lawyer who defends clients while solving mysteries.<ref name="decades1"/> In 1966, he also co-starred in a television production of ''[[Brigadoon (1966 film)|Brigadoon]]'' with [[Robert Goulet]].

In 1971, [[Pierre Cossette]] produced the first [[Grammy Awards]] show on television with some help from Falk. Cossette writes in his autobiography, "What meant the most to me, though, is the fact that Peter Falk saved my ass. I love show business, and I love Peter Falk."<ref>Cossette, Pierre. ''Another Day in Showbiz'', ECW Press (2002) p. 182</ref>