What was his first name? Some say it was never revealed. It was once fraudulently reported to be Philip. But, is this photo definitive? Or is this a con job as well?
Columbo's first name was Frank, though it was never explicitly spoken in the show. It can be seen on his police ID in several episodes, such as "Dead Weight," by pausing and zooming in on the badge.
I loved that show and wish I could find all the TV movies and the entire series on my streaming services!!!!!!
DOH! I've seen that episode countless times, the one with Suzanne Pleshette and Eddie Albert, so I go to my collection of Columbo episodes and, sure enough, Columbo flashes his badge to Eddie at the 12:20 mark . In the episode about the matador in Mexico called "A Matter of Honor" a cop opens Columbo's ID at the 11:46 mark and we see the same prop with the Frank signature.
The badge was a real prop but I don't think the name Frank was ever officially recognised as canon. Like Mrs Columbo he just doesn't have a first name.
I mean it's sorta like an in joke that even in situations where not using a first name would be totally impractical it still somehow never gets revealed.
Now in the late 70s there was a spin off series called Mrs Columbo that starred Kate Mulgrew (of Star Voyager fame) as Lieutenant Columbo's wife. It's not really considered canon but in that show Columbo's first name was Phillip.
So yeah in the main series the name Frank originated cause they'd use it on a prop and the name Phillip came from the Mrs Columbo spin off series. 乂º‿º乂
@rinkydinkydoink Yeah I just read about the Trivial Pursuit lawsuit and it turns out the Philip name was around in a trivia book a few years before the Mrs Columbo spin off series in 1979..
So my bad on that one, I'd always just assumed it must of come from the spin off series.
I mean Mrs Columbo came out straight after the original Columbo series ended and it was about Columbo's wife pottering around solving murder mysteries. It had loose connections like her taking his Basset Hound to the vets, driving his battered car to the garage, stuff like that.
The Columbo's wife idea didn't really work though so in the 2nd series she's called Kate and divorced from some guy called Philip. The show got renamed 'Kate Loves a Mystery' and all connections to the Columbo series were taken out.
Meaning Kate in the 2nd series won't of ever been married to the real Columbo and I'm guessing they must of knowingly used the fake trivia name to imply this. 乂º‿º乂
Frank is what that license said and what it always said. i've been rewatching it for the last couple weeks. i was always more curious about " Mrs. Columbo" and her elusive self.
