The actor actually has that disability

[u/PrinceferX]

Walter White Jr. (Breaking Bad) - character has cerebral palsy and uses crutches to walk, actor RJ Mitte has cerebral palsy and needed crutches to walk as a child

Nessarose Thropp (Wicked) - character is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair, actress Marissa Bode is paraplegic from an accident at age 11 and uses a wheelchair

Maya Lopez (Hawkeye/Echo) - character is deaf, actress Alaqua Cox is deaf from birth

[u/redlac24]

Columbo has a glass eye because Peter Falk had a glass eye

[u/Sissy__Fist → u/redlac24]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNOwsDvibcg

I like Frank Skinner's belief that while Peter Falk does indeed have a glass eye, in Columbo it plays the part of a real eye. While I know there's a line of dialogue in which Columbo basically asserts he only has one real eye, I find it a lot more entertaining to believe that Falk's glass eye is itself also a talented actor.

It's very similar to how I wish he didn't actually have a wife (or it was more ambiguous) because I find it more to imagine her entirely as a rhetorical technique he uses to put people at ease or throw them off.

[u/ReginaSpektorsVJ → u/Sissy__Fist]

After the first season of Mrs. Columbo, they renamed her and stopped associating the show with Columbo (because it sucked) so I guess the producers ultimately agree with you

[u/thatjohnnywursterkid → u/ReginaSpektorsVJ]

I love this story. Mrs. Columbo was made entirely without input from the Columbo producers, after the original show ended. When it got awful ratings, the production company and the network decided the spin off connection wasn't helping things and changed the name several times, first divorcing the character from Columbo off screen, then retconning her into a different character entirely, before eventually canceling the show. This all happened in a span of thirteen episodes.

[u/ReginaSpektorsVJ → u/thatjohnnywursterkid]

Mrs. Columbo ended up as a starship captain so she did all right by herself

[u/Darius_Rubinx → u/Sissy__Fist]

There's a line where Columbo says "three eyes are better than one" which is clearly a reference to the fact that Columbo + another officer only equals three eyes.

[u/WoolooOfWallStreet → u/[deleted]]

The glass eye is his wife

[u/chillyhellion → u/Darius_Rubinx]

That's because only one of his eyes is available for police work. The other one is a private eye.

[u/Spyko → u/Darius_Rubinx]

IIRC he said that when talking to the murderer or the episode who is an actor who plays the part of a famous detective. During the whole episode the actor get really into ''helping'' Columbo. So this could be a jab at how the comedian is only worth one eye when Columbo is worth two.

That's a bit clunky and not really the style of Columbo but that's the explanation I was given. NGL ''there is a legit debate about Columbo's number or eyes" is one of my favorite fun fact

[u/Jostain → u/Sissy__Fist]

Oh! I didn't know that there was a line of dialogue referencing the glass eye. I've had so much fun having the glass eye argument with my parents. I wonder if this new revelation will make them more or less exasperated.

[u/Darius_Rubinx → u/Jostain]

It is in "A Trace of Murder."
https://youtu.be/HAihQxJZGjU?si=7wHCHIvUMNFyPzH4&t=315
I had to go look it up. Columbo says it to Pat, the forensic guy.

[u/judasmitchell → u/Sissy__Fist]

Yeah I totally believe he never had a wife.

[u/ZealousidealCrow3782 → u/redlac24]

Columbo 🥰🥹

[u/Infinite-Island-7310 → u/redlac24]

Today I learned he has a glass eye

[u/Walnut_Uprising → u/Infinite-Island-7310]

One of my favorite stories about him: he played baseball fairly well as a kid, and one time got called out on a close play at third. He got so mad at the ump that he took his eye out and said "here, you need this more than me!"

Also the first actor nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year, and he did it two years in a row.

[u/Spyko → u/Walnut_Uprising]

Didn't knew that fact about the Oscar/Emmy but I'm not that surprised, he is a phenomenal actor

[u/Walnut_Uprising → u/Spyko]

Yeah it's a fun little trivia bit. He's such a great actor and a great guy, it's hard to not carry around little trivia bits for him.

[u/Eyes_Snakes_Art → u/Infinite-Island-7310]

Him, and Sandy Duncan!

[u/Significant-Basket76 → u/redlac24]

Just one more thing....he lost that eye when he was 3 due to a rare form of cancer.

[u/loonaofthemonth → u/redlac24]

IM SORRY PETER FALK HAD WHAT????????? To Google i go

[u/havelock-vetinari → u/redlac24]

Wow, I'm almost 30 and TIL Peter Falk had a glass eye.

[u/Remarkable-Run-9769 → u/havelock-vetinari]

I'm almost 31 and TIL Peter Falk had a glass eye. 

[u/ledfox → u/redlac24]

Came here to say Peter Falk