Lieutenant Franklin "Frank" Columbo is a police detective in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Character biography[]
Frank Columbo was born to Italian-American parents in New York City. Growing up, his hero was Joe DiMaggio. He also liked gangster pictures. Ironically, when growing up, he was not a model child, as he ran with a crowd of boys that broke street lamps and played pranks. Columbo himself jokes that he joined the police force in a part to make up for these pranks.
He has a wife whose first name is never mentioned but is referred to as 'Mrs. Columbo'. A picture of her is shown in the episode: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo, However, Columbo reveals later in that episode that it's actually a picture of his sister in law because his wife doesn't like to have pictures taken of her.
Columbo also has a Basset Hound and in the episode, 'Murder A Self Portrait' Columbo says the name of the dog is 'Dog'.
He states that he does not have any children in Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo but this is almost certainly a lie as it was told to a woman who wanted to kill his wife. On the other hand, he mentions children to people he likes and trusts in Any Old Port In A Storm. This suggests that he does really have children, although number, gender and other details are not stated. The novels reveal more detail about Columbo's children: In The Grassy Knoll, he talks about 2 of his kids going to a certain college meaning he has at least 2 children. In The Helter Skelter Murders, he states he has a daughter. Since he has at least 3 children, this means that he has a daughter and at least 2 sons. He also states that his children are younger than a character who has a nephew whose image is shown in the episode: Columbo Goes to College.
Columbo's IQ is estimated to be approximately 160-190.
Style of Investigation[]
Columbo is a disheveled, shabbily dressed, seemingly slow-witted police detective whose fumbling, overly polite manner makes him an unlikely choice to solve any crimes, least of all murder. However, he is actually a brilliant detective with an eye for minute details and the ability to piece together seemingly unrelated incidents and information to solve crimes.
Columbo is one of few LAPD personnel, if not the only policeman in the LAPD, who does not carry a firearm, maintaining both that he hates guns and that he is an atrocious shot. (In "Forgotten Lady," this leads an Internal Affairs investigator infamous for his own excessive zeal (and, it can be presumed, corruption based on power-hunger) to threaten Columbo with termination unless he retakes his pistol-proficiency test; Columbo instead has another detective take it in his place.) He also rarely visits Parker Center, the police department headquarters building, maintaining, "That's rarely where the murders take place!"
Rank[]
Throughout the series Columbo remains a Lieutenant, never receiving a promotion despite the number of homicide cases he solves over the years.