Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (/vᵻˈɡoʊdə/; February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American film and television actor.

Spouses : 

Sonja Gohlke, first wife, and

Beatrice Schy, second wife 1968–92 (her death)

Vigoda is most notable for his portrayal of Sal Tessio in the Francis Ford Coppola film The Godfather, for the film Joe Versus the Volcano, and for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the television sitcom series Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977 and on its spinoff show Fish that aired from February 1977 to June 1978 on ABC.

After mistaken reports of his death in 1982 and 1987, Vigoda was the subject of several running gags as to whether he was dead or alive. He died on January 26, 2016, in his daughter's home at Woodland Park, New Jersey.

Early life

Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1921, a son of Samuel and Lena (Moses) Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor who had three sons: Abe, Hy and Bill —a comic book artist who drew for the Archie comics franchise and others in the 1940s. The name "Vigoda" in Russian ("выгода") means benefit/advantage/profit/gain.

Vigoda began acting while in his teens, working with the American Theatre Wing. His career as a professional actor began in 1947.

Career

Vigoda gained acting notability in the 1960s with his work in Broadwayproductions, including Marat/Sade (1967) playing "Mad Animal", The Man in the Glass Booth (1968) playing "Landau", Inquest (1970), and Tough to Get Help (1972).[1][5] His best-known film role is that of elder mobster Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972). He also appeared briefly in The Godfather Part II in a flashback sequence at the end of the film. According to director Francis Ford Coppola's commentary on the DVD's widescreen edition, Vigoda landed the role of Tessio in an "open call," in which actors who did not have agents could come in for an audition. He gained further fame playing Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on Barney Miller, a character known for his world-weary demeanor and persistent hemorrhoids. Vigoda landed the role after an unusual audition in which he unwittingly displayed his perfection for the role.

While living in Los Angeles, I'd jog three to five miles a day. One morning jogging, my agent calls about a new series called Barney Miller, saying, "Go there at once."

Well, I was tired and exhausted ... I must have run five miles that morning. I said. "I have to go home and take a shower."

"No, no, no. Go right now to Studio City, you're very right for it, they know you from The Godfather, they want to see you."

"With my shorts?"

"Go"
Danny Arnold and Ted Flicker, the producers, look at me, I look at them, they look at me again. "You look tired."

"Of course I'm tired, I jogged five miles this morning, I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah, tell me, you look like you have hemorrhoids."

"What are you, a doctor or a producer?"

— Abe Vigoda, quoted in Louis Zorich's What Have You Done?: The Inside Stories of Auditioning—from the Ridiculous to the Sublime(2009)

Vigoda starred alongside Florence Stanley and Todd Bridges (before Diff'rent Strokes fame) in a brief spinoff of Barney Miller that centered on his character, eponymously called Fish, until it was canceled in June 1978. According to Bridges, just 12 during the show's second season, Fish was scrubbed after Vigoda demanded more money for a third season than the producers were willing to pay.

Before Barney Miller, he made a few appearances on the ABC TV soap Dark Shadows as Ezra Braithwaite and Otis Greene.

Mistaken reports of his death

In 1982 People magazine mistakenly referred to Vigoda as dead. At the time, Vigoda was performing in a stage play in Calgary. He took the mistake with good humor, posing for a photograph published in Variety in which he was sitting up in a coffin, holding the erroneous issue of People. Jeff Jarvis, a People employee at the time, said that the magazine's editors were known for "messing up" stories, and one of them repeatedly inserted the phrase "the late" in reference to Vigoda, even after a researcher correctly removed it. The edited (erroneous) version was what went to print.

The same mistake was made in 1987 when a reporter for television station WWOR, Channel 9 in Secaucus, New Jersey, mistakenly referred to him as "the late Abe Vigoda". She realized and corrected her mistake the next day.

Vigoda has been the subject of many running gags pertaining to the mistaken reports of his death. In 1997, Vigoda appeared in the film Good Burger as the character Otis, a restaurant's French fry man. Several jokes were made about his advanced age, including Otis saying "I should've died years ago." A Late Night with David Lettermanskit showed Letterman trying to summon Vigoda's ghost, but Vigoda walked in and declared, "I'm not dead yet, you pinhead!"

In May 2001, a website was mounted with only one purpose: to report whether Vigoda was dead or alive. In 2005, a "tongue-in-cheek" Firefox extension was released with the sole purpose of telling the browser user Vigoda's status.

Continuing with the gag, Vigoda appeared frequently to make fun of his status on the television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, including a guest appearance on the show's final episode. In the 1998 New York Friars' Club roast ofDrew Carey, with Vigoda in the audience, comedian Jeffrey Ross joked, "my one regret is that Abe Vigoda isn't alive to see this". He followed that with "Drew, you're a big gambler, what's the over-under on Abe Vigoda?" On January 23, 2009, Vigoda appeared live on The Today Show. He said he was doing well, joked about previous reports of his death and announced he had just completed a voice-over for an H&R Block commercial to air during the Super Bowl.

Vigoda and Betty White, both 88 years old at the time, appeared in "Game", a Snickers commercial that debuted duringSuper Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. The plot made fun of the advanced age of the actors. The USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter poll respondents rated the ad the highest of any shown during the game.

Personal life and death

Vigoda was married to Beatrice Schy from February 25, 1968, until her death on April 30, 1992. The couple had one daughter, Carol. Vigoda enjoyed playing handball, and stated in an interview that he was "almost" a champion at the game in his youth.

On January 22, 2016, Vigoda's nephew reported that 94-year-old Abe Vigoda was dying and had been committed into a hospice, having stopped taking his medication. He died four days later in his sleep at his daughter's home in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

Filmography

• Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965)
• The Godfather (1972)
• The Don Is Dead (1973)
• The Devil's Daughter (1973)
• Newman's Law (1974)
• The Godfather Part II (1974)
• The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd(1974)
• Having Babies (1976)
• The Cheap Detective (1978)
• How to Pick Up Girls! (1978)
• Death Car on the Freeway (1979)
• Gridlock (1980)
• The Big Stuffed Dog (1981)
• 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)
• Witness to the Mob (1998)
• 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)

Television work

• Studio One (1949)
• Dark Shadows (cast member in 1969)
• Toma (1973)
• Mannix (1973)
• The Rockford Files (1978)
• Hawaii Five-O (1974)
• Barney Miller (cast member from 1975–1977)
• The Bionic Woman (1976)
• Fish (1977–1978)
• The Comedy Company (1978)
• The Littlest Hobo (1979)
• B. J. and the Bear (1980)
• As the World Turns (cast member in 1985)
• Tales from the Darkside - "A Choice of Dreams" (1986)
• Santa Barbara (cast member in 1989)
• MacGyver (ep. 7 season 6)
• Monsters (TV series) (ep. "The Gift" - 1990)
• Lucky Luke (1993)
• Law & Order - "Remand" (1996)
• Wings - "All about Christmas Eve" (1996)
• The Norm Show - "Norm, Crusading Social Worker" (1999)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien(recurring, as himself)