Iconic 80s Actress, Married to TV Legend 22 Years Her Senior, Reveals Stunning Transformation

A familiar face from 1980s television made a rare appearance in Los Angeles this week after having spent over 30 years married to a cherished TV legend.

This 76-year-old actress, seen out on Tuesday, appeared lively as she took care of errands around the city. She opted for a laid-back, all-black outfit, a stark contrast to her once dazzling red-carpet attire.

In her heyday, she was often spotted with her husband, the iconic Peter Falk, known for his Emmy-winning role in the popular detective series Columbo.

The couple’s story began when Falk encountered the actress, originally from Pennsylvania, while filming near her hometown. Although Falk was initially married, they eventually wed in 1977, despite the 22-year age gap.

Early in her acting career, she shared the screen with a young Tom Cruise, portraying a prostitute in his breakout film Risky Business in 1983.

Can you guess the mystery beauty? 

One of the familiar faces of 1980s television – who spent more than three decades married to a beloved TV icon – stepped out in Los Angeles this week in a rare public sighting

The 76-year-old actress looked sprightly as she ran errands around the city on Tuesday, dressed casually in an all-black ensemble – a far cry from her glamorous red-carpet days

In her heyday, she was frequently seen on the arm of her husband, the legendary Peter Falk, Emmy-winning star of the hit detective series Columbo 

If you deduced it was Shera Danese, your sleuthing skills are worthy of Columbo himself. 

Before finding fame in Hollywood, Danese had already enjoyed a taste of the spotlight after being crowned Miss Pennsylvania World in 1970.

She began her acting career a few years later, making her television debut in 1975 when she appeared as Kitty in an episode of the medical drama Medical Story – credited at the time as Sherry Danese.

Throughout the late 1970s she became a familiar face on television, guest-starring in a string of hit shows including One Day at a Time, Serpico, Baretta, Three’s Company, Kojak, Family, Hart to Hart, Starsky & Hutch and Charlie’s Angels.

But it was her connection to Columbo that would ultimately define much of her career.

Danese appeared in six episodes of the beloved detective series opposite her husband Falk – more than any other actress in the show’s history. 

While she only played the murderer once, her repeated appearances made her one of the program’s most recognizable guest stars.

Her personal relationship with Falk began long before those on-screen roles.

If you deduced it was Shera Danese, your sleuthing skills are worthy of Columbo himself; (pictured 2015)

Falk first met the Pennsylvania-born beauty while filming near her hometown – and despite being married at the time, the pair later tied the knot in 1977, with the actress 22 years his junior; (pictured 1978)

While their romance lasted decades and Danese stayed married to Falk until his death from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011, their relationship was far from smooth sailing

‘They were known across Hollywood as the Fighting Falks, always arguing, breaking up, then reconciling,’ Lertzman wrote in Beyond Columbo, claiming Falk had been unfaithful during the marriage

The pair first crossed paths in 1976 while Falk was filming Mikey & Nicky in Danese’s hometown in Pennsylvania.

‘He saw me walking down the street and that was it,’ Danese previously told the Los Angeles Times.

According to Falk’s 2017 biography Beyond Columbo, written by Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Brines, Danese initially turned down the actor’s advances before eventually agreeing to join him for a cocktail.

At the time Falk was still married to his first wife, Alyce Mayo, though the book claims their relationship had already been strained. The couple divorced in 1976, and that same year Falk brought Danese to Hollywood.

Not long after arriving in Los Angeles, she landed her first appearance on Columbo – despite having little acting experience at the time.

‘As soon as I came out here in the mid-70s I did a Columbo,’ Danese recalled. ‘I was dumb then. I was just checking my lip gloss.’

Her original ambition, however, wasn’t acting.

In the same interview she explained that she had hoped to pursue music instead: she wanted to become a singer, ‘but when I came out here, I started acting. Singing seemed to be a harder business to get into.’

Early in her career, the actress also appeared alongside a young Tom Cruise , playing a prostitute in his breakout 1983 film Risky Business

Danese starred wih Liza Minnelli in New York, New York in  1977)

Danese with James Broderick and Gary Frank in 1978

While their romance lasted decades and Danese stayed married to Falk until his death from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011, their relationship was far from smooth sailing. 

‘They were known across Hollywood as the Fighting Falks, always arguing, breaking up, then reconciling,’ author Richard A. Lertzman wrote in Beyond Columbo, claiming Falk had been unfaithful during the marriage.

‘They would have stand-up rows in public.’

Despite the ups and downs, Danese remained devoted to her husband – particularly after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2008.

She largely stepped back from acting around that time, making only a brief cameo on Cold Case in 2010 as Falk’s condition worsened.

Doctors said the actor had ‘rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations’, and the couple spent those later years together at his $5million Beverly Hills home.

Since Falk’s passing, Danese has largely stayed out of the spotlight but has continued to appear at occasional events.

In 2011 she received the Albert Schweitzer Award at the Last Chance for Animals Gala, and one of her most recent red carpet appearances came at the 2022 premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where she posed alongside Kathy Hilton.