
Abe Vigoda
Born February 24, 1921 · New York City, New York, USA
Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) proved himself in both gritty dramatic roles, and as an actor with wonderful comedic timing. Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lena (Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, both Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor on the Lower East Side. He made his first stage appearance at the age of 17 and plodded away in small theater shows for over 20 years. For the majority of film-goers, Vigoda first came to prominence in The Godfather (1972) as the double-crossing Tessio, pleading with Robert Duvall to get him off the hook "for old times' sake." He also appeared in its sequel. Vigoda had roles in a few nondescript TV films before landing the plum part of Sgt. Phil Fish on the brilliant sitcom Barney Miller (1974). Perhaps his best known role, Sgt. Fish proved popular enough to be spun off to his own (short-lived) series Fish (1977). With his long face and unusual looks, Vigoda remained in high demand in mafioso-type roles, and for a while in the mid-1980s, he was mistakenly believed to have been dead, leading producers to remark, "I need an Abe Vigoda type actor," not realizing Vigoda was still alive and well. The 1990s and beyond became busy again for him, with appearances in North (1994), The Misery Brothers (1995), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), and Crime Spree (2003). He continued acting into his 90s, surprising audiences with his entertaining style. Abe Vigoda died in his sleep on January 26, 2016 in Woodland Park, New Jersey.
Movies

The Godfather

The Godfather Part II

Look Who's Talking

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Cannonball Run II

Good Burger

Joe Versus the Volcano

The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980

North

The Stuff

Jury Duty

Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special

Night of 100 Stars III

The Don Is Dead

Crime Spree

Prancer

Farce of the Penguins

The Cheap Detective

Witness to the Mob

Love Is All There Is

Sugar Hill

How to Pick Up Girls!

Plain Clothes

A Brooklyn State of Mind

The Devil's Daughter

Underworld

Just the Ticket

Me and the Kid

The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd

Three Rooms in Manhattan

Death Car on the Freeway

Joys

The Big Stuffed Dog

Newman's Law

Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter

The Misery Brothers

Having Babies

Tea Cakes or Cannoli

Home of Angels

Gridlock

Fist of Honor

Toma

Chump Change

The Comedy Company

Farticus
TV Shows

Saturday Night Live

Diagnosis: Murder

Dark Shadows

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Murder, She Wrote

The Love Boat

Hawaii Five-O

MacGyver

Mannix

Love, American Style

Touched by an Angel

The Rockford Files

Mad About You

Wings

Barney Miller

Cannon

Studio One

Tales from the Darkside

Dinah!

The Rookies

The Bob Hope Show

Kojak

Vega$

Monsters

The Bionic Woman

Eight Is Enough

Suspense

Weird Science

B. J. and the Bear

Promised Land

The Norm Show

The Littlest Hobo

Tony Orlando and Dawn

The Captain and Tennille

Superboy

Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television

Deadline

Supertrain

Toma

B.L. Stryker

Lucky Luke

The Adventures of the Black Stallion

Fish

Harper Valley






