Shall we begin with actual life? As all Columbo fans know, Peter Falk was left with only one eye following the surgical removal of his right eye at the age of three, due to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer.
For the remainder of his life, he wore a glass eye, and viewers saw the telltale squint it produced as an integral part of the Columbo character, just as much as the cigar, the car, and Dog. The main distinction is that none of the Lieutenant’s opponents or colleagues ever brought up this handicap.
He noticeably uses a magnifying glass held to his left eye to look for fingerprints on the murder weapon in Troubled Waters. Comparably, in Murder, A Self Portrait, he talks with artist-turned-murderer Max Barsini about a dream sequence while holding a pair of reading spectacles to his left eye.
Does Columbo have a glass eye?
The glass eye of Peter Falk contributed to Columbo’s characteristic squint. Columbo’s well-known one-eyed squint was a result of Falk’s glass eye, which he had as a child due to cancer.