Stage and movie actor Peter Falk, who played legendary detective Columbo over 30 years on TV, died Thursday at age 83.

He was in his Beverley Hills home at the time of his death, and had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease since at least 2008.

Born in 1927 in New York City, Falk grew up in Ossining, N.Y. After being diagnosed with cancer at an early age, he lost an eye to the disease at age three.

"When something like that happens early, you learn to live with it," he told the Associated Press in 1963. "It became the joke of the neighbourhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

Later in life, an agent once told him he'd never work in film or television due to the loss of his eye. He went on to earn five Emmy Awards and garnered Oscar nominations two years in a row, for 1960's "Murder, Inc." and 1961's "Pocketful of Miracles."

Falk reached out to a younger generation as the grandfather in the 1987 kids' comedy movie "The Princess Bride," but his best-known role was always Columbo.

The rough-around-the-edges detective's tenure on primetime started in 1971 when "Columbo" launched as a part of a Sunday night movie series on NBC. At the time, it appeared every three weeks, interspersed with two other mystery series: "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife." The series was cancelled in 1977.

"Columbo" was revived on ABC more than a decade later, appearing as a two-hour movie a handful of times over the years, continuing into the 2000s. It gained international popularity, with particularly devoted fanbases in Iran and France.

Despite offers to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series, Falk resisted. He reportedly made $250,000 per movie, and wore the same battered raincoat -- which he initially bought for himself -- for 25 years after the first episode.

Falk once explained what he saw as the appeal of the single-monikered Columbo character.

"He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

Falk had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, with first wife Alyce Mayo, who he married in 1960. They divorced in 1976.

He is survived by his daughters and actress Shera Danese, who he married the year after his divorce from Mayo. The couple filed for divorce twice over the course of their long and tumultuous relationship, but got back together both times.

With files from The Associated Press