TLDR: Bing Crosby was the first choice for Columbo and turned it down because he did not want to give up his golf schedule.
Lee J. Cobb also declined. Peter Falk was not the producers’ original first choice, but he pursued the role aggressively and eventually made it so definitively his own that when NBC tried to replace him during a salary dispute, Patrick McGoohan flatly refused to take the part.
The story of Peter Falk and Columbo is sometimes told as though the match was inevitable.
It was not.
Before Falk’s rumpled detective became one of the most recognizable figures in television history, the role passed through the hands of several major stars who saw it and walked away.
Bing Crosby and the Golf Problem
The character of Columbo originated in a 1960 television play called “Enough Rope,” written by Richard Levinson and William Link.
It was adapted into a stage play, Prescription: Murder, which ran on Broadway in 1962, and then into a television film in 1968. For that first film, Levinson and Link had a specific actor in mind for the lead role: Bing Crosby.
Crosby was sixty-four years old at the time, a comfortable, beloved American institution who had spent decades playing affable, unthreatening characters with a warm voice and a relaxed manner.
The creators felt he had exactly the right quality of disarming ordinariness to make the character work.
Crosby turned the role down. He reportedly told the producers that accepting a regular series commitment would interfere with his golf schedule, a reason that has become one of the more frequently cited “missed opportunities” anecdotes in television history, given what Columbo eventually became.
Lee J. Cobb, the powerful stage and screen actor known for roles in On the Waterfront and the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, was also offered the role at some point in the development process and declined.
How Falk Got the Role
Peter Falk was not an obvious choice.
He had two Academy Award nominations on his resume, but he was also known as a difficult and demanding actor who drove studios to distraction with his insistence on rewrites and endless rehearsal.
What worked in his favor was that he wanted the role badly enough to fight for it. He pursued Levinson and Link aggressively after learning about the project and eventually persuaded them he was right for it.
NBC was not immediately convinced.
The network reportedly told the producers they thought Falk was a poor choice. The producers disagreed and pressed forward.
The pilot aired in 1968 and performed well enough to generate interest in a series, though the regular run did not begin until 1971.
When NBC Tried to Replace Him
Peter Falk’s relationship with NBC was combative from the beginning.
His salary demands escalated dramatically as the show’s success grew, and he conducted several high-profile walkouts during contract negotiations.
On at least one occasion, NBC executives approached Patrick McGoohan, one of Falk’s most admired collaborators and the star of the British cult classic The Prisoner, about potentially replacing Falk in the role.
McGoohan flatly refused. He told the network that only Falk could play Columbo, and that he would not participate in an attempt to replace his friend and creative partner.
This act of professional loyalty was later cited by Falk himself as one of the defining moments of their friendship.
The network backed down. For the full story of what Falk and McGoohan built together, see our profile of their creative partnership.
Why It Mattered So Much Who Played the Part
The thought experiment of what Columbo would have been with Bing Crosby is genuinely interesting. Crosby’s warmth and ordinariness were real, and the creators were not wrong to see the potential fit.
But what Falk brought to the role that no casting breakdown could have specified in advance was intensity. His Columbo was not just disarming, he was relentless.
Behind the fumbling and the apologizing was a mind that never stopped working, and audiences sensed that Falk meant it.
The combination of his naturalistic acting style, his physical asymmetry, and his refusal to play Columbo as a simple bumbler gave the character a tension that probably could not have been achieved any other way.
Bing Crosby’s golf game is probably the most consequential scheduling conflict in the history of American detective fiction.
Who turned down the role of Columbo?
Bing Crosby was the first choice and turned it down to protect his golf schedule. Lee J. Cobb also declined. Peter Falk pursued the role aggressively after other actors passed.
Was Peter Falk the first choice for Columbo?
No. Bing Crosby was the original first choice. Falk was not the creators’ initial top pick, but he campaigned strongly for the role and eventually persuaded producers he was right for it.
Could anyone else have played Columbo?
NBC attempted to replace Peter Falk during a salary dispute and approached Patrick McGoohan, who flatly refused to take the role out of loyalty to his friend. NBC backed down and Falk continued in the part.
