Abe Vigoda

For the band, see Abe Vigoda (band).

Abe Vigoda
Abe Vigoda, June 2007
Born	Abraham Charles Vigodah
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1949–present

Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (born February 24, 1921) is an American movie and television actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the sitcom television series Barney Miller from 1975-1977, for his portrayal of Sal Tessio in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II and for his role as Otis in the 1997 film "Good Burger."

He made regular appearances as himself (usually in skits relating to his "advanced age") on the television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and was honored with a cameo appearance on that show's final episode.

Early life and family

Vigoda was born in New York City, the son of Lena (née Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor and his brother Bill Vigoda was a comic-book artist who drew for the "Archie" comics franchise and others in the 1940s.

Career

Vigoda gained fame through his supporting character roles, notably as elder mobster Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972). He gained further fame playing Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on Barney Miller, and then led its brief spinoff Fish until it was cancelled in 1978. Before Barney Miller, he made a few appearances on the ABC-TV soap Dark Shadows. He has also appeared in several Broadway productions, including Marat/Sade (1967), The Man in the Glass Booth (1968), Inquest (1970), Tough to Get Help (1972), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1987). His trademark hunched posture and slow delivery of lines made him appear older than he really was.

On January 23, 2009, Abe Vigoda appeared live on The Today Show. He said he is doing well, joked about previous reports of his death and in fact announced he had just completed a voice-over for an H&R Block commercial to air during the Super Bowl.

Abe Vigoda resides in Riverdale New York.

False reports of his death

In 1982, People magazine erroneously declared him dead. Vigoda took the error with good humor, posing for a photograph showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding the magazine in question. This rumor was nearly started again in 1987 when a reporter for Secaucus, New Jersey television station WWOR, Channel 9 erroneously referred to him as "the late Abe Vigoda". She corrected herself on the air the next day.

Erroneous reports of Vigoda's death as well as questions of whether he is alive or dead have become a running joke:

• AbeVigoda.com lists Abe Vigoda's current state as dead or alive.
• A Late Night with David Letterman skit showed Letterman trying to summon Vigoda's ghost. Vigoda then walked in and declared, "I'm not dead, you idiot!"
• In a Comedy Central Roast of Drew Carey, with Abe Vigoda present in the audience, comedian Jeffrey Ross stated "and my one regret is that Abe Vigoda isn't alive to see this." He followed that with "Drew, you go to Vegas, what's the over-under on Abe Vigoda?"
• In 2002, Greg Galcik recorded a song "Abe Vigoda's Dead", a parody of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus.
• In the show Yes, Dear Jimmy writes a song titled "Things I Think About at Work" with a line that says "I wonder if Abe Vigoda's still alive".
• A November 2006 Conan O'Brien sketch showed an audience member summoning the dead. The "deceased person" turned out to be Vigoda.
• In a 2009 episode of Canadian television show, Corner Gas titled "Reader Pride" Emma, Oscar and Karen argue about whether or not Vigoda is still alive.
• In 2005 Firefox added a Plug-in called the Abe Vigoda locater that updates his current whereabouts.

Filmography

• Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965)
• The Godfather (1972)
• The Don Is Dead (1973)
• Newman's Law (1974)
• The Godfather: Part II (1974)
• The Cheap Detective (1978)
• Cannonball Run II (1984)
• The Stuff (1985) (Cameo)
• Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter (1986)
• Keaton's Cop (1988)
• Plain Clothes (1988)
• Look Who's Talking (1989)
• Prancer (1989)
• Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
• Fist of Honor (1993)
• Me and the Kid (1993)
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) (voice)
• Home of Angels (1994)
• Sugar Hill (1994)
• North (1994)
• The Misery Brothers (1995)
• Jury Duty (1995)
• Love Is All There Is (1996)
• Underworld (1996)
• Me and the Gods (1997)
• A Brooklyn State of Mind (1997)
• Good Burger (1997)
• Just the Ticket (1999)
• Tea Cake or Cannoli (2000)
• Crime Spree (2003)
• Chump Change (2004)
• Farce of the Penguins (2007) (voice)
• Frankie the Squirrel (2007)
• The Unknown Trilogy (2008)

Upcoming:

• Mafioso II (2008)
• The Driver (2008)

Television work

• Studio One (1949)
• Dark Shadows (cast member in 1969)
• The Devil's Daughter (1973)
• Toma (1973)
• The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd (1974)
• The Rockford Files (1974)
• Hawaii Five-O (1974)
• Barney Miller (cast member from 1975-1977)
• The Bionic Woman (1976)
• Having Babies (1976)
• Fish (1977-1978)
• Soap (1978)
• The Comedy Company (1978)
• How to Pick Up Girls! (1978)
• Death Car on the Freeway (1979)
• Gridlock (1980)
• The Big Stuffed Dog (1981)
• As the World Turns (cast member in 1985)
• Tales from the Darkside - A Choice of Dreams in 1986
• Santa Barbara (cast member in 1989)
• Macgyver (ep. 7 season 6)
• Lucky Luke (1993) (canceled after 8 episodes)
• Law & Order (1995) (1 ep. as Briscoe's retired partner)
• Witness to the Mob (1998)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (recurring character)
• Family Guy (2001) (Cameo)

External links

• Abe Vigoda at IMDb
• Abe Vigoda at the Internet Broadway Database
• Template:Tv.com person
• http://www.abevigoda.com/ffb.php

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