Peter Falks Daughter Jacqueline Dead at 60

Columbo star Peter Falk's daughter Jacqueline died this week in , in what has been officially declared a suicide.

Jacqueline was one of the two daughters Falk adopted with his college sweetheart and first wife Alyce Mayo, whom he was married to from 1960 to 1976.

She was 60 years old when she hanged herself Monday at a residence, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.

Whether she left a note remains unclear, but her body has been designated ready for release and the case status is currently open. 

Known as Jackie, she was predeceased by both her parents, with Falk dying in 2011 aged 83 after suffering from  and Mayo dying aged 85 in 2016.

Her survivors include her sister Catherine Falk-Rothchild, who worked as a private investigator and waged a highly publicized public battle with Falk's second wife, whom she accused of refusing to let his daughters see him during his final decline.

Falk landed his most beloved role around the same time he welcomed his daughters, starring as Lieutenant Columbo on the classic detective series.

He won four Emmy Awards leading the cast of the show both during its original run from 1968 to 1978, and its subsequent revival from 1989 to 2003.

His movie work included his Oscar nominated turns in Murder Inc. and Pocketful of Miracles, as well as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Princess Bride.

A crucial thread in Falk's big screen career was his long-running professional connection to filmmaker John Cassavetes, particularly his starring role in the 1974 drama A Woman Under the Influence alongside the director's wife Gena Rowlands.

Falk kept a veil of privacy tightly drawn over his family life, although he once remarked of his daughters: 'I think they think a lot of me,' to People.

In recent years, however, Catherine has painted an affectionate portrait of the childhood she and Jacqueline enjoyed with Falk.

She explained that their parents 'were best friends' after their divorce, reuniting to take their children to Los Angeles Kings hockey games together, via Closer.

'I remember watching my mom and dad laugh and tell stories about their college years. It was nice as a teenager to experience that,' she said.

However in Falk's final years, as his mind frayed under the effects of dementia, a wrench was thrown into his relationship with both his daughters.

His second wife Shera Danese - whom he married the year after his split from Catherine and Jacqueline's mother - obtained a conservatorship of Falk.

According to Catherine, Danese kept Falk away from his daughters and neglected to keep them abreast of his condition as he declined.

In her version of events, her stepmother declined to even inform Catherine that Falk had died and then prevented her from attending his funeral.

Jacqueline kept her feelings on the subject private, but Catherine took the feud into the public square, demanding: 'How would you feel if you had to hear from the media, or hear from an attorney that your dad passed away?' to Inside Edition.

'I think that most people feel that I am this money-grubbing daughter, that I'm just going after my dad to get money,' she acknowledged. 

'There were definitely bumps in the road, but we had reconciled and I had a very loving relationship with him. I adored him, he adored me.'

In Catherine's view, her stepmother was squarely to blame for the problems she experienced her father, who 'was married to a woman that made it really difficult for my father to feel free. We weren't allowed to go to his house.' 

Catherine then successfully lobbied for the passage in New York State of what became known as Peter Falk's Law, a piece of legislation that protects citizens' rights to visit their ailing parents and to be kept informed about their state of health.