This portrait of Peter Falk as Detective Columbo was Santore’s first cover for TV Guide. The exaggerated scale of the hand holding a cigar and the rumpled beige raincoat emphasize the character’s trademark features. The saturated pink background proved controversial—TV Guide editor Merrill Panitt would only purchase the illustration if it were changed to blue.
In the crime drama Columbo (1968–2003), Falk’s working-class detective often disarmed suspects with his disheveled appearance and apparent absentmindedness, then caught them through unrelenting questioning and formidable attention to detail. Rather than a traditional “whodunit,” Columbo pioneered the “howcatchem” format, revealing the culprit at the outset before showing the detective’sinvestigative process. The series carried an undercurrent of class struggle: Columbo’s adversaries—often played by major television stars—were wealthy, successful characters who committed murder after losing touch with reality.
Born in Philadelphia, Santore graduated from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (later the University of the Arts) in 1956. He began his career as a freelance illustrator for advertising agencies and magazines including TV Guide, Saturday Evening Post, Time, and Life. From 1986 onward, Santore focused on children’s book illustration, becoming one of the field’s most acclaimed artists. His work has been featured in major exhibitions at the Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Society of Illustrators, and is held in the permanent collections of Woodmere, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Brandywine River Museum of Art, and the Free Library of Philadelphia.
