TV Land stylized as TVland (originally Nick at Nite's TV Land) is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996.^[1] It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon. Originally consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the network now airs a combination of classic television shows, newer shows, originals and movies.

Origins[link]

Building on the success and popularity of Nick at Nite, TV Land premiered on April 29, 1996, delivering classic situation comedies, dramas, variety shows and memorable TV programming 24 hours a day. The phrase "TV Land" was originally coined by The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show^{[citation needed]} in the 1960s, in which Bullwinkle often introduced his "Bullwinkle's Corner" segments with the greeting, "Hello out there in TV Land!" Occasionally a soundbite of Bullwinkle's phrase is used in TV Land promotions.

In 1997, TV Land teamed up with TV Guide to rank the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

The phrase "TV Land" was then used by Nick at Nite in the 1980s as the name of the fictional place whence the channel received its classic programming block, and it appeared in such slogans as "Nick at Nite: Hello Out There From TV Land!" for much of the 1980s. However, once the TV Land network spun-off, Nick at Nite quit using the term in its own slogans in order to prevent viewers from confusing the two separate channels. The new network featured a variety of television programming from the 1950s through the 1990s. Its inaugural season featured the Emmy-Award-winning Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and The Ed Sullivan Show, and series Gunsmoke and The Honeymooners. Great detectives were featured every Saturday, with programs including Honey West, Dog and Cat, Burke's Law, Nero Wolfe (1981) and Ace Crawford, Private Eye. "TV Land Goes West" presented Shane, Barbary Coast, Have Gun, Will Travel and Best of the West. "Hooterville Saturday" featured Petticoat Junction and Green Acres; and "Sunday in the Barracks" laughed with the military in The Phil Silvers Show and Hogan's Heroes.^[2]

The network initially was a mix of classic TV and short-lived series, often from the Paramount library.^[3] In 1999, a deal with Universal provided the programmers the ability to "cherry-pick" from a variety of series including Emergency!, Kojak and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Although the channel launched during a time when retransmission consent was becoming more common amongst cable networks and broadcast stations nationwide due to a provision in the 1992 Cable Act, MTV Networks chose to offer TV Land to cable system operators free for five years, as long as they added the channel to their expanded basic tiers during 1996.^[4]

In February 1999, TV Land's primetime averaged a 1.0 in cable homes, tying ESPN for 10th place among all cable networks. Its siblings, MTV and VH1, tied for 17th and 26th place, respectively. "That February rating put TV Land into the top 10 for the first time since it began operating", John Dempsey reported in Variety, "and opened the eyes of the cable industry to the rich vein of golden-oldie TV shows that distributors are mining for an audience of nostalgia buffs and kids who are stumbling across the series for the first time."^[5]

A TV Land channel in Arabia was created in 1996. However, it mostly focused more on sports and action than classic shows. TV Land Arabia shared the 24-hour channel with Paramount Arabia on the Gulf DTH cable service. Both TV Land Arabia and Paramount Arabia closed in 2000.

On January 1, 2001, the network introduced a streamlined logo, which traded the uneven-ness of the original for a more rigid form, and restricted the wedge serif type to "TV" and the sans serif type to "LAND". TV Land celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 29, 2006. Also in 2006, TV Land and Nick at Nite stopped operating jointly together, making TV Land a channel in its own right. TV Land often airs marathon weekends devoted to a single program. In the early 2000s, TV Land aired special programming blocks on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (beginning on December 31, 2001): the final day of the year revolved around final episodes of classic television series, and the first day of the new year aired exclusively pilot episodes.

Harry Shearer was the regular announcer for the network promos in the 2000s, though as of 2010 no longer does promotions for TV Land. The original announcer was DJ Dan Ingram. On November 23, 2009, the network changed its logo to a more simplified form, keeping the double-trapezoidal outline, but removing the outlines around each letter and simplifying the fonts.

In 2008, TV Land added three hours of infomercials to the morning lineup, airing Monday through Friday from 6–9 a.m. ET. As such, TV Land became only the third cable channel operated by Viacom and its MTV Networks subsidiary to air infomercials (the only others being CMT and Spike); in May 2010, TV Land removed one hour of the infomercial block, reducing it to 6-8 a.m. ET, and added reruns to the 8-9 a.m. ET weekday timeslot.

Programming[link]

Currently, TV Land's programming primarily consists of reruns. The lineup includes television series such as Murder, She Wrote, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, M*A*S*H, Three's Company, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, The King Of Queens, Roseanne, That 70's Show, Boston Legal. Movies air on the network as well.

During the early years of the channel's existence, variety shows and dramas were more prominent in the channel lineup. However, charter shows such as The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and The Ed Sullivan Show were gone from the lineup by the late 1990s, though The Flip Wilson Show lasted until 2004. In addition to this, many of the sitcoms were from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly those in the Filmways catalog from prior to the rural purge.

For several years the station broadcast classic advertisements, called "TV Land Retromercials." Examples of advertisements aired are the "Mamma mia, that's a spicy meatball!" from Alka-Seltzer and "In Soviet Georgia" from Dannon yogurt, as well as the animated Tootsie Pop owl. Some retromercials have included future stars like Judd Hirsch, Rene Russo, Roy Scheider and Jodie Foster. Interspersed with the classic commercials were fictional retro-style commercials for various substances, almost always brand named "Twip." These were dropped in recent years altogether. In early years, current commercials were not shown on TV Land. Also featured frequently during "commercial" breaks were CBS News' In the News segments from the 1970s and 1980s.

During its first three years, the station broadcast original programming called "Sixty Second Sitcoms". These were minute long parodies of sitcoms from various TV eras which also contained fake opening and end credits, and concluded with "This has been a TV Land Presentation" logo. The shows included "The Gaveltons", (a black and white segment based on Father Knows Best-type comedies, concerning a family that uses the law to solve typical sitcom problems), and "Spin & Cutter" (a parody of Perfect Strangers-style 1970s and 1980s buddy shows that featured characters saying things like "What could possibly be worse than this?" followed by the picture spinning and a cut to a scene featuring another added element and the other character saying "You had to ask, didn't you?"). Each of the series had several segments and ran alternating with the Retromercials.

Recent programming direction[link]

Starting in 2007, the network began targeting Generation X and its progeny, adding programming from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, along with an increase in "original programming" and the introduction of recent (1980s or later) movies one night weekly, essentially abandoning the Baby boomers and orienting the station to the first MTV watchers. The network no longer labels itself as a "Classic TV" network (over-the-air rivals Retro Television Network, Me-TV, This TV, and Antenna TV now have that focus). The network acquired shows such as Murphy Brown, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Scrubs for 2008. The network began airing more original programming in 2008 with a revival of The WB's High School Reunion (which features reunions of older classes than the original series) and a modeling competition for women over 40 called She's Got the Look. Accompanying this strategy was a refresh of the network's graphic identity designed and conceived by Trollback + Company, who also created its earlier look in 2000.

In October 2008, the network began devoting its late primetime schedule to a new programming block airing from 9 pm-midnight Monday-Friday, called TV Land Prime, which featured the network's original programming efforts, movies, and newer archive programming at the time such as 3rd Rock from the Sun, Scrubs, Just Shoot Me, and The Cosby Show with a branding campaign which was drastically different than TV Land's general imaging. The "dot" logo accompanying the "Prime" logo was dropped with the TV Land logo put in its place in November 2009; some programs featured in the block that air in timeslots outside the block have used the TV Land Prime logo bug. The block has since been dropped.

TV Land added more recent shows in 2009 and 2010, with Roseanne, and Everybody Loves Raymond, Home Improvement, The Nanny and Boston Legal. The syndicated fare acquired for TV Land has had mixed results, although programs such as The King of Queens and Everybody Loves Raymond have been a success. Older series still air throughout the day.

The network also began its first foray into original scripted programming in 2010, beginning with two new sitcoms. Hot in Cleveland, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White, premiered in June 2010 to 4.75 million viewers, a TV Land record.^[6] Meanwhile, Retired at 35, starring George Segal, Johnathan McClain and Jessica Walter^[7] premiered on January 19, 2011. The network continued to have success in 2011 with original sitcoms, such as Happily Divorced starring Fran Drescher, which premiered on June 15, 2011. The Soul Man, a spin-off of Hot in Cleveland, will debut on June 20, 2012.

When a program deemed particularly important is airing on another network, TV Land has aired nonsense programming (such as footage of staff members holding signs or wearing T-shirts) to encourage viewers to watch the network programming. Recent examples include the series finales of Friends (2004) and Everybody Loves Raymond (2005). The network went dark during the last episode of Seinfeld (1998).

It should be noted that several classic television programs formerly found on TV Land can now be found on the overnight block on the television network The Hub.

TV Land original sitcoms[link]

• Hot in Cleveland (2010–present)
• Retired at 35 (2010–present)
• Happily Divorced (2011–present)
• The Exes (2011–present)
• The Soul Man (2012–present)

TV Land HD[link]

TV Land HD is a 1080i simulcast that launched in November 2011. It is currently available on AT&T U-verse and Cablevision in select areas.

Slogans[link]

• Take Me to TV Land (1996–1999)
• We're Crazy About Television (1999–2001)
• TV Satisfaction. Guaranteed. (2001–2006)
• Here for the TV Generation (2006–2007)
• Look Again (2011)
• Laugh More (2011–present)

TV Land Awards[link]

TV Land has been the broadcast home for the TV Land Awards show since the show's inception in 2003. The TV Land Awards are celebration of past classic TV shows and TV stars. The TV Land Awards previously broadcast simultaneously on Nick at Nite until 2007.

TV Land statues of TV icons[link]

• The Bob Newhart Show — statue of Bob Newhart, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show — statue of Mary Tyler Moore, 7th Street & Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• The Honeymooners — statue of Jackie Gleason, 40th Street & 8th Avenue, New York, New York
• The Andy Griffith Show — statues of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard, Pullen Park, Raleigh, North Carolina and at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
• Bewitched — statue of Elizabeth Montgomery, Salem, Massachusetts
• Aloha from Hawaii — statue of Elvis Presley, Neal Blaisdell Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Happy Days — statue of Henry Winkler as Fonzie (nicknamed the "Bronze Fonz"), Milwaukee Riverwalk, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Launch of TV Land - April 29, 1996 on YouTube

v t e Nick at Nite Current programs Everybody Hates Chris Family Matters Friends George Lopez The Brady Bunch The Nanny That '70s Show Yes, Dear Previously-aired programs See List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite Original series Fatherhood (2004–2005) Glenn Martin, DDS (2009–2011) Hi-Jinks (2005–2006) The Search for the Funniest Mom in America (2005–2007) Related articles Nickelodeon TeenNick TV Land Book Television portal / Nickelodeon portal

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Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers, May 2006
Born	Suzanne Marie Mahoney (1946-10-16) October 16, 1946 (age 65) San Bruno, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, author, businesswoman, singer
Years active	1963–present
Spouse	Bruce Somers (1965–1968) Alan Hamel (1977–present)
Website
http://www.suzannesomers.com/

Suzanne Somers (born as Suzanne Marie Mahoney on October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step.

Somers later became the author of a series of best-selling self-help books, including Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (2006), a book about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.^[1] She has also released two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry entitled "Touch Me" (1980). She currently features items of her design on ShopNBC.^{[citation needed]}

She is criticized for her views on some medical subjects and her advocacy of the Wiley Protocol, which has been labelled as "scientifically unproven and dangerous".^[2][3] Her promotion of alternative cancer treatments has received criticism from the American Cancer Society.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Born Suzanne Marie Mahoney in San Bruno, California, Somers was the third of four children in an Irish Catholic family.^[5][6][7] Her mother, Marion Elizabeth (née Turner), was a medical secretary, and her father, Francis Mahoney, was a laborer (loading beer into boxcars) and gardener.^[8] Her family attended church at St. Robert's Catholic Church in San Bruno.

She attended Capuchino High School,^[9][10] then she was accepted at San Francisco College for Women (commonly referred to as "Lone Mountain College") a Catholic school that is now a campus of the University of San Francisco.

She was a contestant on Anniversary Game (1969–70), where she met host Alan Hamel for the first time; they were married in 1977.

In 2001 Somers announced that she had breast cancer, having a lumpectomy to remove the cancer followed by radiation therapy. She decided to forego chemotherapy in favor of alternative treatment.^[11]

On January 9, 2007, the Associated Press reported that a wildfire in Southern California had destroyed Somers' Malibu home.^[12]

Career[link]

Early acting roles[link]

She began acting in small roles during the late 1960s and early 1970s (including on various talk shows promoting her book of poetry, and bit parts in movies such as the "Blonde in the T-Bird" in American Graffiti, and an episode of the American version of the sitcom Lotsa Luck as the femme fatale in the early 1970s). She appeared in The Rockford Files and had an uncredited role as a topless pool girl in Magnum Force, both in 1974. She next guest starred on the 1977 episode "Cheshire Project" on The Six Million Dollar Man. She later landed the role of the ditzy blonde "Chrissy Snow" on the ABC sitcom Three's Company in 1977. And also that year she was a celebrity panelist on Match Game.

[edit] Three's Company

Suzanne Somers on the USS Ranger (CV-61) in 1981, during the time she was cast off of Three's Company

At the beginning of the fifth season, Somers demanded a hefty raise from $30,000 to $150,000 an episode and 10% ownership of the show's profit. Those close to the situation suggested that Somers' rebellion was due to husband Hamel's influences. When ABC denied her request, Somers boycotted the second and fourth shows of the season, due to several excuses such as a broken rib (which was false). She finished the remaining season on her contract, but her role was decreased to 60 seconds per episode. After her contract was terminated, she sued ABC for $2 million, claiming that her credibility in show business had been damaged. It went to an arbitrator who decided that Somers was owed only $30,000 due to a single missed episode for which she had not been paid. Other rulings favored the producers. Somers has said she was fired because she asked to be paid as much as male actors like Alan Alda of M*A*S*H, and Carroll O'Connor of Archie Bunker's Place.^[13]

Before the feud with Three's Company producers and ABC ended, rival network CBS knew that Somers was ultimately going to be available. They signed her to a contract and a development deal for her own sitcom, which was going to be called The Suzanne Somers Show, in which she was to play an "over-the-top" airline stewardess. Once she was indeed available (after her firing from Three's Company), CBS gave Somers – and the public – a timeframe in which to expect the show to hit the air, but due to a change in administration at CBS' entertainment division in early 1982, the brass ended up passing on the project. Also, Somers claimed in her book After the Fall (1998), that the producers of Three's Company kept sending cease and desist forms to CBS stating that Somers could not use any of her Chrissy Snow characterization, and that chilled the creative process.

[edit] Playboy pictorials

Somers appeared in two Playboy cover-feature nude pictorials: in 1980 and 1984. The first set of photos was taken by Stan Malinowski in February 1970 when Somers was a struggling model and actress and did a test photoshoot for the magazine. She was accepted as a Playmate candidate in 1971, but declined to pose nude before the actual shoot. During a Tonight Show appearance, she denied ever posing nude (except for a High Society topless photo), which prompted Playboy into publishing the photos from the 1970 Malinowski shoot in February 1980.^[14] The second nude pictorial by Richard Fegley appeared in December 1984 in an attempt by Somers to regain her popularity after being terminated by Three's Company in 1982.

Spokeswoman for the Thighmaster[link]

During the 1980s, Somers became a Las Vegas entertainer. She was the spokeswoman for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment that is squeezed between one's thighs. Thighmaster was one of the first products responsible for launching the infomercial concept.^{[citation needed]} During this period of her career, she also performed for US servicemen overseas.^[15][16]

[edit] She's the Sheriff

At the height of her exposure as official spokesperson for Thighmaster infomercials, Somers made her first return to a series, although not on network television. In 1987, she starred in the sitcom She's the Sheriff, which ran in first-run syndication. Somers portrayed a widow with two young kids who decided to fill the shoes of her late husband, a sheriff of a southern town. The show ran for two seasons.

[edit] Step by Step

In 1990, Somers returned to network TV, appearing in numerous guest roles and made-for-TV movies, mostly for ABC. Her roles in these, including the movie Rich Men, Single Women, attracted the attention of Lorimar Television and Miller-Boyett Productions, who were developing a new sitcom. Somers had starred in the film with Heather Locklear, who inadvertently directed the focus of both production companies to Somers due to Locklear's starring role on Going Places (from Lorimar and Miller/Boyett). For Lorimar, this was asking Somers back, since they alone had produced She's the Sheriff.

In September 1991, Somers returned to TV starring in the sitcom Step By Step (with Patrick Duffy), which ran for seven seasons. Playing off her rejuvenated career, Somers also launched a daytime talk show in 1994, albeit briefly, titled Suzanne Somers. During Step By Step's final season, on CBS, she began co-hosting Candid Camera with Peter Funt.

[edit] Candid cohost

From 1997–99, Somers cohosted the revised Candid Camera show, when CBS chose to bring it back with Peter Funt. Somers stayed for two years before PAX TV renewed the series without her.

[edit] The Blonde in the Thunderbird

Somers receiving patriotic civilian service award for past USO tour performances after performing The Blonde in the Thunderbird for members of the US military and their families.

In summer 2005, Somers made her Broadway debut in a one-woman show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, a collection of stories about her life and career. The show was supposed to run until September, but was cancelled in less than a week after poor reviews and disappointing ticket sales.^[17] Somers blamed the harsh reviews (The New York Times referred to it as "...a drab and embarrassing display of emotional exhibitionism masquerading as entertainment"^[18]) and told the New York Post: "These men [New York critics] are curmudgeons, and maybe I went too close to the bone for them. I was lying there naked, and they decided to kick me and step on me, just like these visions you see in Iraq."^[19]

[edit] Breaking Through

In 2012, Somers began an online talk show, Suzanne Somers Breaking Through, at CafeMom. Three of the episodes featured a reunion with Joyce DeWitt, the two speaking with each other for the first time in thirty years.^[20]

Views on medical subjects[link]

Somers supports bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Her book, Ageless,^[21] includes interviews with 16 practitioners of bioidentical hormone therapy, but gives extra discussion to one specific approach, the 'Wiley Protocol'. Somers and T. S. Wiley, the originator of the Wiley Protocol, have been criticized for their advocacy of the Wiley Protocol. A group of seven doctors, all of whom utilize bioidentical hormone therapies to address health issues in women, issued a public letter to Somers and her publisher, Crown, in which they state that the protocol is "scientifically unproven and dangerous" and cite Wiley's lack of medical and clinical qualifications.^[2] The use of bioidentical hormone therapies is a very controversial area of medicine;^[3] its efficacy has never been tested and numerous groups have expressed concern over its safety and the misleading claims made by practitioners.^[22]

Her promotion of them, and Oprah Winfrey's support of her, has been the subject of an Associated Press article:^[4]

The problem, for many doctors: These custom-compounded products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Somers, whose hormone regimen involves creams, injections and some 60 supplements daily, got a huge boost earlier this year from Oprah Winfrey. "Many people write Suzanne off as a quackadoo," Winfrey said when Somers appeared on her show. "But she just might be a pioneer."

Yet Winfrey's tacit support of Somers gave her some of the worst press of her career. "Crazy Talk," Newsweek headlined an article on the talk show host earlier this year. Another headline, on Salon.com: "Oprah's Bad Medicine."^[4]

In 2001, Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, and radiation, but declined to undergo chemotherapy.^[3] In November, 2008, Suzanne Somers announced she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer by six doctors, but Somers learned a week later that she was misdiagnosed. During this time, she interviewed doctors about cancer treatments and these interviews became the basis of her book, Knockout, about alternative treatments to chemotherapy.^[23] In her book Knockout, Somers promotes alternative cancer treatments, for which she has received criticism from the American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society is concerned.
"I am very afraid that people are going to listen to her message and follow what she says and be harmed by it," says Dr. Otis Brawley, the organization's chief medical officer. "We use current treatments because they've been proven to prolong life. They've gone through a logical, scientific method of evaluation. I don't know if Suzanne Somers even knows there IS a logical, scientific method."
More broadly, Brawley is concerned that in the United States, celebrities or sports stars feel they can use their fame to dispense medical advice. "There's a tendency to oversimplify medical messages," he says. "Well, oversimplification can kill."^[4]

She is also opposed to water fluoridation.^[24]

In the movie "Sex and the City 2" Samantha, one of the characters, advocates Suzanne Somers' book and method of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy ^[25]

Television work[link]

• Anniversary Game (1969–1970)
• Mantrap (1971–1973)
• Lotsa Luck (c1973)
• The Big Ripoff (The Rockford Files) (Aired Oct, 1974)
• Sky Heist (1975)
• Match Game ('77/PM) (1977)
• It Happened at Lakewood Manor (1977)
• Three's Company (cast member from 1977–1981)
• Happily Ever After (1978)
• Zuma Beach (1978)
• Hollywood Wives (1985) (miniseries)
• Goodbye Charlie (1985)
• She's the Sheriff (1987–1989)
• Rich Men, Single Women (1990)
• Step by Step (1991–1998)
• Keeping Secrets (1991)
• Exclusive (1992) (also co-executive producer)
• The Suzanne Somers Show (1994–1995)
• Seduced by Evil (1994)
• 8-Track Flashback (1995-1998)
• Devil's Food (1996)
• Love-Struck (1997)
• No Laughing Matter (1998)
• Candid Camera (co-host from 1998–2000)
• The Darklings (1999)
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2009) (Guest appearance)
• ShopNBC

Filmography[link]

• Bullitt (1968)
• Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• Magnum Force (1973) (uncredited)
• Ants (1977)
• Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977)
• Yesterday's Hero (1979)
• Nothing Personal (1980)
• Totally Minnie (1987)
• Serial Mom (1994) (cameo)
• Rusty: A Dog's Tale (1998) (voice)
• Say It Isn't So (2001) (cameo)

Bibliography[link]

Suzanne Somers at the Ina Soltani

• Somers, S (1980). Touch Me: The Poems of Suzanne Somers. Workman Pub Co. ISBN 0-89480-141-4. 
• Somers, S (1987). Keeping Secrets. Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-51395-1. 
• Somers, S (1992). Wednesday's Children: Adult Survivors of Abuse Speak Out. Putnam Adult. ISBN 0-399-13743-2. 
• Somers, S (1998). After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-609-60312-4. 
• Somers, S (1999). Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-609-60162-4. 
• Somers, S (1999). Suzanne Somers' 365 Ways to Change Your Life. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-609-60161-7. 
• Somers, S (2001). Suzanne Somers' Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-609-60722-0. 
• Somers, S (2001). Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight (Miniature Editions). Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-1160-3. 
• Somers, S (2001). Somersize Desserts. Clarkson Potter. ISBN 978-0-609-60977-4. 
• Somers, S (2002). Suzanne Somers' Fast and Easy: Lose Weight the Somersize Way with Quick, Delicious Meals for the Entire Family!. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-4643-0. 
• Somers, S (2004). The Sexy Years: Discover the Hormone Connection - The Secret to Fabulous Sex, Great Health, and Vitality, for Women and Men. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-609-60721-9. 
• Somers, S (2004). Somersize Chocolate. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-5329-2. 
• Somers, S (2005). Suzanne Somers' Slim and Sexy Forever: The Hormone Solution for Permanent Weight Loss and Optimal Living. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-5325-4. 
• Somers, S (2005). Somersize Cocktails: 30 Sexy Libations from Cool Classics to Unique Concoctions to Stir Up Any Occasion. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-5330-8. 
• Somers, S (2005). Somersize Appetizers: 30 Scintillating Starters to Tantalize Your Tastebuds at Every Occasion. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-5331-5. 
• Somers, S (2006). Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-307-23724-9. 
• Somers, S (2008). Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 1-4000-5327-7. 
• Somers, S (2009). Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer--And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-58746-6. 
• Somers, S (2009). Stay Young & Sexy with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement: The Science Explained. Smart Publications. ISBN 978-1-890572-22-8. 
• Somers, S (2010). Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat after Forty. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-58851-7. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Suzanne Somers

• Official website
• Suzanne Somers at the Internet Movie Database
• Suzanne Somers at AllRovi

A centenarian is a person who lives to or beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average global life expectancies are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. A supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Even rarer is a person who has lived to age 115; as of April 2012^[update], there are only 27 people in recorded history who have indisputably reached this age.^[1][2][3] In 2009, the United Nations estimated that there were 455,000 living centenarians worldwide.^[4]

Current incidence[link]

A photo of the Canadian centenarian Muriel Duckworth, taken in honor of her 100th birthday in 2008.

The United States currently has the greatest number of centenarians of any nation, estimated at 70,490 on September 1, 2010.^[5] This corresponds to a national incidence of one centenarian per 4,400 people.^[6]

Japan has the second-largest number of centenarians, with an estimated 47,756 as of September 2011.^[7] Japan started its surveys in 1963, at which time the number of Japanese centenarians was found to be 153. This number surpassed the 10,000 mark in 1998, 20,000 in 2003, and 40,000 in 2009. According to a UN Demographic survey, Japan is expected to have 272,000 centenarians by 2050.^[8] However, some sources suggest that the number could be closer to 1 million.^[9] Many experts attribute Japan's high life expectancy to the Japanese diet, which is particularly low in refined simple carbohydrates, and to hygienic practices. In addition, the number of centenarians in relation to the total population was, in September 2010, 114% higher in Shimane Prefecture than the ratio for the whole of Japan. This ratio was also 92% higher in Okinawa Prefecture.^[10][11] In addition to diet, there are four other factors that have been found to increase the life expectancy for Okinawans, as noted later in the "research into centenarians" section of this article.^[12] The incidence of centenarians in Japan was one per 3,522 people in 2008,^[13] although Okinawa again exceeded this average, with one per 1,838 people in 2006.

Centenarian controversy in Japan[link]

The number of Japanese centenarians was called into question in 2010, following a series of reports showing that hundreds of thousands of elderly people had gone "missing" in the country. The deaths of many centenarians had not been reported, casting doubt on the country's reputation for having a large population of centenarians.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In July 2010, a centenarian listed as the oldest living male in Tokyo, registered to be aged 111, was found to have died some 30 years before; his body was found mummified in its bed,^[18] resulting in a police investigation into centenarians listed over the age of 105. Soon after the discovery, the Japanese police further found that at least 200 other Japanese centenarians were missing, with the total likely to rise amid a nationwide search that began in early August 2010.^[19] In one case, the remains of a mother thought to be 104 had been stuffed into her son's backpack for nearly a decade.^[20]

There are growing concerns that Japan's welfare system can be exploited by unscrupulous family members keen to continue receiving benefits after the pensioners die.^[19] In one case, a man received around 9.5 million yen in pension payments despite his wife having died six years previously.^[19]

Centenarian populations[link]

The total number of centenarians in the world remains uncertain. It has been estimated by the Population Division of the United Nations as 23,000 in 1950, 110,000 in 1990, 150,000 in 1995, 209,000 in 2000 and 324,000 in 2005.^[21] There were an estimated 455,000 centenarians in the world in 2009.^[4] However, these estimates do not take into account the recent downward adjustments of national estimates made by several countries, such as the United States.^[22] The following table lists estimated centenarian populations by country, including both the latest and the earliest known estimates, where available.

Traditions[link]

An 1895 photograph of a Chaldean man from Mosul, Iraq, said to be 107 years old.

In many countries, people receive a gift or congratulations on their 100th birthday. In the United States, centenarians traditionally receive a letter from the President, congratulating them for their longevity. NBC's The Today Show show has also named new centenarians on air since 1983. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms, the Queen sends greetings (formerly as a telegram) on the 100th birthday and on every birthday starting with the 105th. Centenarians born in Ireland receive a €2,540 "Centenarians' Bounty" and a letter from the President of Ireland, even if they are resident abroad.^[50] Japanese centenarians receive a silver cup and a certificate from the Prime Minister of Japan upon their 100th birthday, honouring them for their longevity and prosperity in their lives. Swedish centenarians receive a telegram from the King and Queen of Sweden.^[51] Centenarians born in Italy receive a letter from the President of Italy. In Japan, a "National Respect for the Aged Day" has been celebrated every September since 1966.

An aspect of blessing in many cultures is to offer a wish that the recipient lives to 100. Among Hindus, people who touch the feet of elders are often blessed with "May you live a hundred years". In Sweden, the traditional birthday song states, May he/she live for one hundred years. In Judaism, the term May you live to be 120 years old is a common blessing. In Poland, Sto lat, a wish to live a hundred years, is a traditional form of praise and good wishes, and the song "sto lat, sto lat" is sang on the occasion of the birthday celebrations--arguably, it is the most popular song in Poland and among Poles around the globe. Chinese emperors were hailed to live ten thousand years, while empresses were hailed to live a thousand years. In Italy, "A hundred of these days!" (cento di questi giorni) is an augury for birthdays, to live to celebrate 100 more birthdays.^[52] Some Italians say "Cent'anni!", which means "a hundred years", in that they wish that they could all live happily for a hundred years. In Greece, wishing someone Happy Birthday ends with the expression να τα εκατοστήσεις (na ta ekatostisis), which can be loosely translated as "may you make it one hundred birthdays".

Centenarians in ancient times[link]

While the density of centenarians per capita was much less in ancient times than today, the data suggest that reaching the age of 100 was not unheard of. However, ancient demographics are biased in favor of wealthy or powerful individuals rather than the ordinary person. Grmek and Gourevitch speculate that during the Classical Greek Period, anyone who made it past the age of five years — surviving all the common childhood illness of that day — had a reasonable chance of living to a ripe old age. Life expectancy at 400 B.C. was estimated to be around 30 years of age. One demographer of ancient civilizations reported that Greek men lived to 45 years (based on a sample size of 91), while women lived to 36.2 years (based on a sample size of 55). Curiously, the gender statistics are inverted compared to today, since child-birth was a much more traumatic experience at that time than now, and it certainly skewed female statistics downward. It was common for average citizens to take great care in their hygiene (sanitation), Mediterranean diet (fish, figs, olive oil, wine, etc.), and exercise program (sports/gymnasium), although there was much more male trauma per capita than today, due to military service being virtually universal for citizens. This also biased the statistics for men downward.^[53]

Diogenes Laertius (c. 250) gives one of the earliest references regarding (plausible centenarian) longevity given by a scientist, the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicea (c. 185 – c. 120 B.C.), who, according to the doxographer, assured that the philosopher Democritus of Abdera (c. 470/460 – c. 370/360 B.C.) lived 109 years. All other accounts about Democritus given by the ancients appear to agree on the fact that the philosopher lived over 100 years. Such longevity would not be dramatically out of line with that of other ancient Greek philosophers thought to have lived beyond the age of 90 (e.g.: Xenophanes of Colophon, c. 570/565 – c. 475/470 B.C.; Pyrrho of Ellis, c. 360 - c. 270 B.C.; Eratosthenes of Cirene c. 285 – c. 190 B.C., etc.). The case of Democritus differs from the case of, for example, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries B.C.), who is said to have lived an implausible 154, 157 or 290 years, depending on the source.

The sixth dynasty Egyptian ruler Pepi II is believed by some Egyptologists to have lived to the age of 100 or more (c. 2278 BC - c. 2184 BC), as he ruled for 94 years.^[54] However this is under dispute, as others claim the length of his reign was actually 64 years.^[55]

The Indian Sufi poet, Kabir (1398-1518?) is believed by some to have lived to an implausible age of 120 while others believe that he lived for no more than 80 years.

Ultimately, there is no reason to believe that centenarians did not exist 2500 years ago, even if they were not commonplace.^[56]

Hosius of Córdoba, the man who convinced Constantine the Great to call the First Council of Nicaea, reportedly lived to age 102.

The Chronicon of Bernold of Constance records the death in 1097 of Azzo marchio de Longobardia, pater Welfonis ducis de Baiowaria, commenting that he was iam maior centenario.^[57]

Research into centenarians[link]

Research carried out in Italy suggests that healthy centenarians have high levels of vitamin A and vitamin E and that this seems to be important in guaranteeing their extreme longevity.^[58] Other research contradicts this, however, and has found that these findings do not apply to centenarians from Sardinia, for whom other factors probably play a more important role.^[59] A preliminary study carried out in Poland showed that, in comparison with young healthy female adults, centenarians living in Upper Silesia had significantly higher red blood cell glutathione reductase and catalase activities and higher, although insignificantly, serum levels of vitamin E.^[60] Researchers in Denmark have also found that centenarians exhibit a high activity of glutathione reductase in red blood cells. In this study, those centenarians having the best cognitive and physical functional capacity tended to have the highest activity of this enzyme.^[61]

Other research has found that people having parents who became centenarians have an increased number of naïve B cells. It is well known that the children of parents who have a long life are also likely to reach a healthy age, but it is not known why, although the inherited genes are probably important.^[62] A variation in the gene FOXO3A is known to have a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found much more often in people living to 100 and beyond - moreover, this appears to be true worldwide.^[63]

Men and women who are 100 or older tend to have something else in common, an extraverted personality, says Thomas T. Perls, M.D., M.P.H., the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University. Centenarians will often have many friends, strong ties to relatives and a healthy dose of self-esteem.^[64]

Some research suggests that centenarian offspring are more likely to age in better cardiovascular health than their peers.^[65]

In John W. Santrock's book "A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development", there are five factors that research has suggested that are most important to longevity in centenarians:^[12] 1) heredity and family history 2) health, i.e. weight, diet, whether or not a person smokes, amount of exercise 3) education level 4) personality 5) lifestyle.^[12]

Santrock's book also noted that the largest group of centenarians are women who have never been married.^[12] Also, people who have been through traumatic life events, such as Holocaust survivors, learn to cope better with stress and poverty and are more likely to reach centenarian status.^[12]

In Okinawa, Japan, studies have shown five factors that have contributed to the large number of centenarians in that region:^[12]

1. A diet that is heavy on grains, fish, and vegetables and light on meat, eggs, and dairy products.
2. Low-stress lifestyles, which are proven significantly less stressful than that of the mainland inhabitants of Japan.
3. A caring community, where older adults are not isolated and are taken better care of.
4. High levels of activity, where locals work until an older age than the average age in other countries, and more emphasis on activities like walking and gardening to keep active.
5. Spirituality, where a sense of purpose comes from involvement in spiritual matters and prayer eases the mind of stress and problems.^[12]

Although these factors vary from those mentioned in the previous study, the culture of Okinawa has proven these factors to be important in its large population of centenarians.^[12]

See also[link]

• Lists of centenarians
• New England Centenarian Study
• Okinawa Centenarian Study
• Oldest people
• Queensland Community Care Network, which operates the centenarians-only 100+ Club

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Koch, Tina; Kralik, Debbie; Power, Charmaine (2005). 100 Years Old: 24 Australian Centenarians Tell Their Stories. Camberwell, Vic: Viking. ISBN 0-670-02872-X. 

External links[link]

• The Okinawa Centenarian Study
• New England Centenarian Study
• Living to 100 and Beyond: Search for Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity^{[dead link]}
• Mortality of Centenarians
• U.S. politicians who lived the longest
• Noted Nonagenarians and Centenarians
• Centenarian research & celebration
• Living Beyond 100 - International Longevity Center UK
• Table of numbers of centenarians for select nations, 1960 and 1990
• Centenarians’ Road

Carrie Ann Inaba
Born	(1968-01-05) January 5, 1968 (age 44) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, television judge, game show host
Years active	1986–present
Partner	Artem Chigvintsev (2006-08) Jesse Sloan (engaged)

Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968) is an American dancer, choreographer, actress, game show host, and singer.

She started her career as a singer in Japan, but became best known for her dancing, first introducing herself to American audiences as one of the original Fly Girls on the sketch comedy series In Living Color. She has appeared as one of three judges on the ABC television series Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), a show that pairs celebrities with professional dancers as they train and then compete in front of a studio audience.

Early life[link]

Inaba was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, graduating from Punahou School in 1986. She is of Chinese, Japanese, and Irish descent.^[1] She studied at Sophia University and University of California, Irvine before graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. degree in World Arts and Cultures.^[2]

Career[link]

Inaba, who speaks Japanese, lived in Tokyo from 1986 to 1988 and was a popular singer. She released three singles, "Party Girl" (backed with "China Blue"), "Be Your Girl" (backed with "6½ Capezio"), and "Yume no Senaka" (backed with "Searching") and hosted weekly radio and television series.

After returning to America, Inaba appeared as one of the "Fly Girls", a group of backing dancers on the television series In Living Color from 1990 to 1992. She also performed with Canadian singer Norman Iceberg and dancers Viktor Manoel (David Bowie's "Glass Spider" tour) and Luca Tommassini at Prince's notorious Glam Slam. Inaba appeared as a dancer during Madonna's 1993 Girlie Show World Tour.

Inaba appeared in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) as Fook Yu, alongside Diane Mizota who played her twin sister Fook Mi. The two women are not related, but when Mizota had been cast for her role, she was asked if she knew any actresses who resembled her and suggested Inaba. Inaba, who had appeared briefly in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, was given the role and the two women were made up to appear as identical twins. Inaba and Mizota would later reprise their roles with Mike Myers in a commercial for Motorola.

Inaba has acted (usually as a dancer) in the movies Monster Mash: The Movie, Lord of Illusions, Showgirls, Boys and Girls, Flintstones II, Freak and American Virgin and the television series Jack & Jill and Nikki.

Inaba has choreographed several television series, including American Idol, American Juniors, All American Girl, He's a Lady, In Search of the Partridge Family (in which she also appeared on air), Married by America, The Sexiest Bachelor in America Pageant, The Swan, and Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?. She also choreographed the Miss America Pageant for five years.

Inaba is the founder and President of EnterMediArts, Inc., a video production company. She directs, writes, and edits films. Her work includes E! Behind The Scenes Miss America Special, 7th Festival of the Pacific Arts, A Portrait of IVI and Beyond the Dancing Image, along with the short feature film, Black Water. She also appeared in the first season of So You Think You Can Dance during the audition stages where she provided choreography for the "choreography round".

Other TV appearances include Inaba as guest and co-host on The View, the ABC talent competition Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, and the FOX special Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.

Also, Inaba guest stars as Tina, Hannah's choreographer, in the Hannah Montana episode, "Papa's Got A Brand New Friend".^[3] In the episode, Tina is seen teaching Hannah new dance moves. However, she is accidentally pushed out of the window when Hannah does the electric slide, and becomes incapacitated in a full-body cast. Hannah pleads her to keep her job, but Tina refuses, forcing Hannah to hire a new choreographer.

TV Guide Network announced that Carrie Ann has been signed on to anchor its live red carpet coverage, beginning with the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards.^[4]

In October 2010, she was named host of the revival of the game show 1 vs. 100 on GSN. Although there has not yet been an official decision on if a second series of the show will be produced, Carrie has announced that she would not be returning as host.^[5]

USA Dance 2009 National DanceSport Championships[link]

This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (November 2010)

According to the January/February 2009 issue of American Dancer magazine,^[6] Inaba will be an honorary judge at the 2009 USA DANCE National DanceSport Championships in Baltimore, April 3–5 USA Dance, which is the national governing body for DanceSport in the United States, as recognized by the IDSF (International Dancesport Federation) and the US Olympic Committee, of which USA Dance is a member organization. Inaba will be assisting in the first stages of the review by USA Dance of competitive ballroom dancing "in the modern era" as they explore a new major initiative in the critique of DanceSport and its public appeal. Her input to USA DANCE will provide additional critique outside that of the traditional judging panel and will be focused on aspects of performance and personality that may escape normal judging standards. USA Dance, along with Inaba, will present the first-annual Star Quality no Award to 12 DanceSport championship level couples being judged in their divisions.

Personal life[link]

Inaba dated Artem Chigvintsev, a dancer and former So You Think You Can Dance contestant, from 2006 to 2008.^[7]

While sitting in as guest host on Live with Regis and Kelly on March 31, 2011, Regis was "answering" a letter asking for advice on how to propose. The lights dimmed just before her boyfriend, Jesse Sloan, appeared on stage. With violinists playing behind, Sloan, bent on one knee, asked for Inaba's hand, to which she responded "Yes! I will marry you!" ^[8] Inaba and Jesse met on online dating site eHarmony. ^[9] In an interview with US Weekly in 2011, Inaba stated that she and Sloan would marry in the summer of that year. ^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of Carrie Ann Inaba
• Carrie Ann Inaba at the Internet Movie Database
• Carrie Ann Inaba interview
• Carrie Ann Inaba Interview at PR.com

Peter Falk
As Columbo, circa 1976
Born	Peter Michael Falk (1927-09-16)September 16, 1927 New York City, US
Died	June 23, 2011(2011-06-23) (aged 83) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Nationality	American
Education	Ossining High School
Alma mater	Hamilton College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–2008
Spouse	Alyce Mayo (m. 1960–1976; divorced) Shera Danese (m. 1977–2011; his death)
Children	2 daughters
Website
PeterFalk.com

Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American actor, best known for his role as Lt. Frank Columbo in the television series Columbo. He appeared in numerous films such as The Princess Bride, The Great Race and Next, and television guest roles. He was nominated for an Academy Award twice (for 1960's Murder, Inc. and 1961's Pocketful of Miracles), and won the Emmy Award on five occasions (four for Columbo) and the Golden Globe award once. Director William Friedkin, when discussing Falk's role in his 1978 film The Brink's Job, said that "Peter has a great range from comedy to drama. He could break your heart or he could make you laugh."^[1]

In 1968, he starred with Gene Barry in a ninety-minute television pilot about a highly-skilled, laid-back detective. Columbo eventually became part of an anthology series titled The NBC Mystery Movie, along with McCloud and McMillan & Wife. The detective series stayed on NBC from 1971 to 1978, took a respite, and returned occasionally on ABC from 1989 to 2003. Falk was "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", wrote historian David Fantle.^[2]

In 1996 TV Guide ranked him number 21 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.^[3]

Early life[link]

Born in 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),^[4] an accountant and buyer.^[5] His family was Jewish;^[6] his father was of Russian ancestry^[7] and his mother was of Bohemian descent.^[8][9]

Falk's right eye was surgically removed when he was three because of a retinoblastoma; he wore a glass eye for most of his life.^[10] Despite this, Falk participated in team sports, mainly baseball and basketball, as a boy. In a 1997 interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine with Arthur Marx, Falk said, "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."^[11]

Falk's first stage appearance was at the age of 12 in The Pirates of Penzance at Camp High Point^[12] in upstate New York, where one of his camp counselors was Ross Martin (they would later act 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. After graduating from high school in 1945, Falk briefly attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and then tried to join the armed services as World War II was drawing to a close. Rejected because of his glass eye, he joined the United States Merchant Marine, and served as a cook and mess boy. "There they don't care if you're blind or not", Falk said in 1997. "The only one on a ship who has to see is the captain. And in the case of the Titanic, he couldn't see very well, either."^[11] Falk recalls this period in his autobiography:

"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 with Egypt. ... I just wanted more excitement ... However, the war, to everyone's amazement, was over in the blink of an eye."^[13]

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. He then traveled in Europe and worked on a railroad in Yugoslavia for six months.^[14] He returned to New York, enrolling at Syracuse University,^[11] 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.^[15]

Falk obtained a Master of Public Administration degree at the 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 that he had "no interest in and no aptitude for."^[16] He applied for a job with the CIA, but was rejected because of his membership in the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union while serving in the Merchant Marine, even though he was required to join and was not active in the union.^[17] He then became a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford.^[18] Falk characterized his Hartford job as "efficiency expert". "I was such an efficiency expert that the first morning on the job, I couldn't find the building where I was to report for work", he said in 1997. "Naturally, I was late, which I always was in those days, but ironically it was my tendency never to be on time that got me started as a professional actor."^[11]

Career[link]

Stage career[link]

While working in Hartford, Falk joined a community theater group called the Mark Twain Masquers, where he performed in plays that included The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Crucible, and The Country Girl by Clifford Odets. Falk also studied with Eva Le Gallienne, who was giving an acting class at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. Falk later recalled that he had "lied his way" into the class, which was for professional actors. He drove down to Westport from Hartford every Wednesday, when the classes were held, and was usually late.^[11]

In his 1997 interview with Arthur Marx in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Falk said "One evening when I arrived late, she looked at me and asked, 'Young man, why are you always late?' and I said, 'I have to drive down from Hartford.'" She looked down her nose and said, "What do you do in Hartford? There's no theater there. How do you make a living acting?" Falk confessed he wasn't a professional actor. According to Falk, she looked at him sternly and said, "Well, you should be." He drove back to Hartford and quit his job.^[11]

Falk stayed with the Le Gallienne group for a few months more, and obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Galliene to an agent at the William Morris Agency in New York.^[11] In 1956, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village to pursue an acting career.

His first New York stage role was in an Off-Broadway production of Molière's Dom Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre that closed after its only performance on January 3, 1956. Falk played the second lead, Sganarelle.^[19] His next theater role proved far better for his career. In May, he appeared at Circle in the Square in a revival of The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards playing the bartender.^[18][20]

Falk made his Broadway debut also in 1956, appearing in Alexander Ostrovsky's Diary of a Scoundrel. As the year came to an end, he appeared again on Broadway as an English soldier in Shaw's Saint Joan, with Siobhán McKenna.^[21] In 1972, he appeared in Broadway's The Prisoner of Second Avenue. According to film historian Ephraim Katz, "His characters derive added authenticity from his squinty gaze, the result of the loss of an eye ..."^[22]

Early films[link]

Despite his stage success, a theatrical agent advised Falk not to expect much film acting work because of his glass eye.^[18] He failed a screen test at Columbia Pictures and was told by studio boss Harry Cohn that "for the same price I can get an actor with two eyes." He also failed to get a role in the film Marjorie Morningstar, despite a promising interview for the second lead.^[23] His first film performances were in small roles in Wind Across the Everglades (1958), The Bloody Brood (1959) and Pretty Boy Floyd (1960).^[24]

Falk's performance in Murder, Inc. (1960) was a turning point in his career. He was cast in the supporting role of killer Abe Reles, in a film based on the real-life murder gang of that name, that had terrorized New York in the 1930s. The New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther, while dismissing the movie as "an average gangster film", singled out Falk's "amusingly vicious performance."^[25]

Crowther wrote:^[25]

Mr. Falk, moving as if weary, looking at people out of the corners of his eyes and talking as if he had borrowed Marlon Brando's chewing gum, seems a travesty of a killer, until the water suddenly freezes in his eyes and he whips an icepick from his pocket and starts punching holes in someone's ribs. Then viciousness pours out of him and you get a sense of a felon who is hopelessly cracked and corrupt.

The film turned out to be Falk's breakout role. In his autobiography, Just One More Thing (2006), Falk said that his selection for the film from thousands of other Off-Broadway actors was a "miracle" that "made my career" and that without it, he would not have gotten the other significant movie roles that he later played.^[26] Falk, who played Reles again in the 1960 TV series The Witness,^[24] was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance in the film.

In 1961, multiple Academy Award-winning director Frank Capra cast Falk in the comedy Pocketful of Miracles. The film was Capra's last feature, and although it was not the commercial success he hoped it would be, he "gushed about Falk's performance."^[2] Falk was nominated for an Oscar for his role. In his autobiography Capra writes about Falk:

The entire production was agony ... except for Peter Falk. He was my joy, my anchor to reality. Introducing that remarkable talent to the techniques of comedy made me forget pains, tired blood, and maniacal hankerings to murder Glenn Ford (the film's star). Thank you Peter Falk."^[27]:480

For his part, Falk says that he "never worked with a director who showed greater enjoyment of actors and the acting craft." Falk says, "There is nothing more important to an actor than to know that the one person who represents the audience to you, the director, is responding well to what you are trying to do." Falk recalled one time that Capra reshot a scene even though he yelled "Cut and Print", indicating the scene was finalized. When Falk asked him why he wanted it reshot, "he laughed and said that he loved the scene so much he just wanted to see us do it again. How's that for support!"^[2]

For the remainder of the 1960s, Falk had mainly small movie roles and TV guest-starring appearances. Falk turned in a gem of a performance as one of two cabbies who falls victim to greed in the epic 1963 star-studded comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, even though he appears only in the last fifth of the movie. Other roles included a comical crook in the 1964 Rat Pack film, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and the 1965 spoof The Great Race, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.

Early television roles[link]

in Decoy (1959)

Falk first appeared on television in 1957, in the dramatic anthology programs that later became known as the "Golden Age of Television." He appeared in one episode of Robert Montgomery Presents in 1957, and also appeared in Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, New York Confidential, Naked City, Have Gun–Will Travel and Decoy.^[24] On The Twilight Zone he portrayed a Castro-type revolutionary complete with beard who was drunk with power and kept seeing his assassins in a newly acquired mirror.

In 1961, Falk was nominated for an Emmy Award^[28] for his performance in the episode "Cold Turkey" of James Whitmore's short-lived series The Law and Mr. Jones on 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. He won an Emmy for The Price of Tomatoes, a Dick Powell TV drama in 1962.^[24]

Falk's first television series was in the title role of the drama The Trials of O'Brien, in which he played a lawyer. The show ran in 1965 and 1966 and was cancelled after 22 episodes.^[24]

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."^[29]

[edit] Columbo

Although Falk appeared in numerous other television roles in the 1960s and 1970s, he is best known as the star of the TV series Columbo, "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", writes historian David Fantle. His character was a shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective lieutenant, who had first appeared in the 1968 film Prescription: Murder. Falk described his role to Fantle:

Columbo has a genuine mistiness about him. It seems to hang in the air ... [and] he's capable of being distracted ... Columbo is an ass-backwards Sherlock Holmes. Holmes had a long neck, Columbo has no neck; Holmes smoked a pipe, Columbo chews up six cigars a day."^[2]

Television critic Ben Falk adds that Falk "created an iconic cop ... who always got his man (or woman) after a tortuous cat-and-mouse investigation." He notes also that the idea for the character was "apparently inspired by Dostoyevsky's dogged police inspector, Porfiry Petrovich, in the novel Crime and Punishment.^[30]

Falk tries to analyze the character and notes the correlation between his own personality and Columbo's:

I'm a Virgo Jew, and that means I have an obsessive thoroughness. It's not enough to get most of the details, it's necessary to get them all. I've been accused of perfectionism. When Lew Wasserman (head of Universal Studios) said that Falk is a perfectionist, I don't know whether it was out of affection or because he felt I was a monumental pain in the ass."^[2]

With "general amazement", Falk notes that "the show is all over the world". He added, "I've been to little villages in Africa with maybe one TV set, and little kids will run up to me shouting, 'Columbo, Columbo!'"^[2] Singer Johnny Cash recalled acting in one episode, and although he was not an experienced actor, he writes in his autobiography, "Peter Falk was good to me. I wasn't at all confident about handling a dramatic role, and every day he helped me in all kinds of little ways."^[31]

The debut episode in 1971 was directed by 25-year-old Steven Spielberg in one of his earliest directing roles. Falk recalled the episode to Spielberg biographer Joseph McBride:

Let's face it, we had some good fortune at the beginning. Our debut episode, in 1971, was directed by this young kid named Steven Spielberg. I told the producers, Link and Levinson: "This guy is too good for Columbo" ... Steven was shooting me with a long lens from across the street. That wasn't common twenty years ago. The comfort level it gave me as an actor, besides its great look artistically — well, it told you that this wasn't any ordinary director."^[32]

The character of Columbo had previously been played by Bert Freed in a single TV episode and by Thomas Mitchell on Broadway. Falk first played Columbo in Prescription: Murder, a 1968 TV-movie, and from 1971 to 1978 Columbo aired regularly on NBC as part of the umbrella series NBC Mystery Movie. All episodes were of TV-movie length, in a 90 or 120 minutes slot including commercials. The show returned on ABC in the form of a less frequent series of TV-movies, still starring Falk, from 1989 until 2003.^[24] Falk won four Emmys for his role in Columbo.^[33]

The series was so popular that co-creator William Link wrote a series of short stories published as The Columbo Collection (Crippen & Landru, 2010) which includes a drawing by Falk of himself as Columbo, and the cover features a caricature of Falk/Columbo by Al Hirschfeld.

Later career[link]

Falk was a close friend of independent film director John Cassavetes and appeared in Cassavetes' films Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence, and, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night. Cassavetes, in turn, guest-starred in the Columbo episode "Étude in Black" in 1972. Falk describes his experiences working with Cassavetes, and specifically remembers his directing strategies such as "shooting an actor when he might be unaware the camera was running."

You never knew when the camera might be going. And it was never: 'Stop. Cut. Start again.' John would walk in the middle of a scene and talk, and though you didn't realize it, the camera kept going. So I never knew what the hell he was doing. [Laughs] But he ultimately made me, and I think every actor, less self-conscious, less aware of the camera than anybody I've ever worked with."^[34]

In 1978, he appeared on the comedy TV show The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, where Frank Sinatra was the evening's victim.

Falk at a book signing for his 2006 autobiography Just One More Thing

Falk continued to work in films, including his performance as a questionable ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the comedy The In-Laws. Director Arthur Hiller said during an interview that the "film started out because Alan Arkin and Peter Falk wanted to work together. They went to Warner's and said, 'We'd like to do a picture,' and Warner's said fine ... and out came The In-laws ... of all the films I've done, The In-laws is the one I get the most comments on."^[1]:290 Movie critic Roger Ebert compared the film with a later remake:

Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in the earlier film, versus Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks this time ... yet the chemistry is better in the earlier film. Falk goes into his deadpan lecturer mode, slowly and patiently explaining things that sound like utter nonsense. Arkin develops good reasons for suspecting he is in the hands of a madman."^[35]

He also appeared in The Princess Bride, Murder By Death, The Cheap Detective, Vibes, Made, and (as himself) in Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire and its 1993 sequel, Faraway, So Close!. In 1998, Falk returned to the New York stage to star in an Off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Mr. Peters' Connections. His previous stage work included shady real estate salesman Shelley "the Machine" Levine in a Boston/Los Angeles production of David Mamet's prizewinning Glengarry Glen Ross.

Falk also starred in such holiday television movies as A Town Without Christmas (2001), Finding John Christmas (2003) and When Angels Come to Town (2004). In 2005, he starred in The Thing About My Folks. Although movie critic Roger Ebert was not impressed with most of the other actors, he writes in his review, " ... we discover once again what a warm and engaging actor Peter Falk is. I can't recommend the movie, but I can be grateful that I saw it, for Falk."^[36] In 2007, Falk appeared with Nicolas Cage in the thriller Next.

Personal life[link]

Falk married Alyce Mayo, whom he had met when they were both students at Syracuse University,^[37] on April 17, 1960. They adopted two daughters, Catherine (who is a private investigator) and Jackie. They divorced in 1976. On December 7, 1977, Falk married actress Shera Danese,^[38] who guest-starred on the Columbo series on numerous occasions.

Falk was an accomplished artist, and in October 2006 he had an exhibition of his artwork at the Butler Institute of American Art.^[39] He took classes at the Art Students League of New York for many years.^[40][41] Examples of his sketches can be seen on his official website.

Falk was also a chess aficionado and was a spectator at the American Open in Santa Monica, California, in November 1972, and at the U.S. Open in Pasadena, California, in August 1983.^[42]

His memoir, Just One More Thing (ISBN 978-0786717958) was published by Carroll & Graf on August 23, 2006.

Of death, he once said, "It is just the gateway."^[43]

Failing health and death[link]

Rumors of Falk's dementia plagued the actor in the final years of his life; exacerbated when in late April 2008, Falk was photographed by Paparazzi looking disheveled and acting animated in the streets of Beverly Hills. Though the actor said his behavior was due to his frustration over being unable to remember where he had parked his car, the images of his erratic appearance and behavior were published by the media, and Falk was seldom seen in public after the incident.^[44]

At a two-day conservatorship trial in Los Angeles in June 2009, one of Falk's personal physicians, Dr. Stephen Read, reported that Falk had rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations in 2007.^[45] Dr. Read said it was unclear whether Falk's condition had worsened as a result of anesthesia or some other reaction to the operations. He went on to add that Falk's condition was so bad he could no longer remember the character of Columbo. Shera Danese Falk was appointed as her husband's conservator.^[46]

The 83-year-old Falk died at his longtime Roxbury Drive Beverly Hills home on the evening of June 23, 2011.^[47][48] The cause of death was later revealed as cardiorespiratory arrest, with pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease as underlying causes.^[49] Falk was survived by his wife and two daughters.^[50] His daughters said they would remember his "wisdom and humor".^[51] Falk is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.^[52]

Falk's death was greeted with tributes from many film celebrities.^[53][54] Steven Spielberg said, "I learned more about acting from him at that early stage of my career than I had from anyone else."^[55] Stephen Fry tweeted that Columbo was "TV’s greatest ever detective."^[56] Rob Reiner said, "He was a completely unique actor," and went on to say that Falk's work with Alan Arkin in The In-Laws was "one of the most brilliant comedy pairings we've seen on screen."^[57]

Filmography[link]