Who played the role of Lieutenant Columbo in the television series produced from 1968 to 2003?

Columbo is an American crime drama television series produced from 1968 to 2003.

The series stars Peter Falk, who also directed one episode, as Lieutenant Columbo. A four-time Emmy Award winner, the series featured guest appearances by renowned actors such as Janet Leigh, Leslie Nielsen, Leonard Nimoy, Donald Pleasence, and singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. Some episodes were directed by renowned directors such as Steven Spielberg, Ben Gazzara, Jonathan Demme, and John Cassavetes, who also played the antagonist.

The series premiered in Italian on November 16, 1974, on TV Koper-Capodistria, and three years later, starting on July 6, 1977, it was broadcast on Rai 2 (then known as Secondo Canale). A few years later, the new seasons were broadcast for the first time on Rete 4. In the following decades, it was rerun several times, especially on Mediaset channels.