When he was 3 years old, his preschool teacher noticed he cocked his head in an unusual way whenever he looked at something, so she recommended he see a doctor. Young Peter received a diagnosis of retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer that must be treated quickly because it develops rapidly. Within two days, his tumor was removed along with his right eye. He used a prosthetic eye for the rest of his life--always to his advantage.
In his autobiography, Falk recounted how, as a teenager, he used his glass eye to get laughs. Once while playing baseball in high school, Falk was called out at third base. "It was a bad call," Falk said. "I was clearly safe. I knew it and everybody in the stands knew it. They sat so close to the field, they could see and hear everything. In front of everyone, I whipped out my eye and handed it to the umpire: 'You'll do better with this one.' Talk about getting a laugh. I got a roar. Even the guys on the other team were rolling in the grass."
Later, Falk used his signature squint as part of nearly every eccentric character he played, including Columbo, the quirky detective who was always seen wearing a rumpled raincoat and smoking stumpy cigars.
excellent
Awesome story, no wonder he’s the Romanian David Hasselhoff.
A local parochial school invited in some veterans for their Veterans Day assembly. Afterwards, there was a breakout session where a vet would meet with a class and answer questions. One boy asked a grizzled old vet if he was ever wounded. He replied, “yes, I lost an eye” and proceeded to pluck out his glass eye and pass it around. The kids thought it was great but the teacher looked like she was going to faint.