six parts, and Peter Falk’s wife

Shera Danese

The actress who appeared in Columbo more than any other — and the wife of its star. Shera Danese married Peter Falk in 1977 and between 1976 and 1997 played six parts in the series, one of them a killer.

Parts in Columbo

Episode	Season	Year	Character	Rating
Fade in to Murder6×01	6	1976	Molly	8.5
Murder Under Glass7×02	7	1978	Eve Plummer	8
Murder, A Self Portrait9×01	9	1989	Vanessa Barsini	7.5
Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star10×03	10	1991	Trish Fairbanks	7.5
Undercover10×09	10	1994	Geraldine Ferguson	6.5
A Trace of Murder10×11	10	1997	Cathleen Calvert	7

Six parts

Molly in Fade in to Murder, Eve Plummer in Murder Under Glass, Vanessa Barsini in Murder, a Self Portrait, Trish Fairbanks in Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star, Geraldine Ferguson in Undercover and Cathleen Calvert in A Trace of Murder. The last is the only one on the other side of the law: an accomplice to murder.

She met Falk on the set of Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky, and they married on December 7, 1977. They appeared on screen together again in Checking Out (2005).

Beyond Columbo

Miss Pennsylvania World of 1970. She began acting in the mid-seventies, with guest parts in Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, Charlie’s Angels and Baretta. Her best-known film role is in Risky Business (1983) with Tom Cruise.

Facts

Six Columbo parts — more than any other actress.
Played a killer once: Cathleen Calvert in A Trace of Murder (1997).
Married Peter Falk on December 7, 1977.
Met Falk on the set of Mikey and Nicky.

Questions

Was Shera Danese Peter Falk’s wife?

Yes — they married in 1977 and were together until his death in 2011.

Which Columbo episodes is she in?

Six: Fade in to Murder, Murder Under Glass, Murder, a Self Portrait, Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star, Undercover and A Trace of Murder.

More familiar faces

1926—2012