Actor Abe Vigoda, who played the decrepit Detective Phil Fish in the television sitcom “Barney Miller” and Mafia lieutenant Sal Tessio in the original “Godfather” movie, died Tuesday, according to his manager, Sid Craig.
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The death of 94-year-old actor has put a full stop on the rumours about Abe’s death that sparked almost three decades ago. Though Vigoda took it in stride, the question of whether he was dead or alive became something of a running joke: “There was even a website devoted to answering the much-Googled question, “Is Abe Vigoda dead?’ (On Tuesday, it had been updated with ‘Yes”)”.
“It seems he’d seen me in a play or plays”, Vigoda said, adding that one of the reasons Coppola “was interested in me was that nobody knew my face”.
Vigoda became a cult figure after his death was falsely reported for about 34 years, dating all the way back to 1982. “Abe Vigoda was one of the nicest guys in the business…talent with a capital T, self deprecating and so sweet”, she said. “Many are producers. I’m sure there are many who may have thought about me for a role but said, ‘No, he’s dead'”.
– Late Vigoda was relatively unknown until appearing in the Oscar-winning movie, The Godfather. He earned three Emmy nominations for best supporting actor in a comedy series. “Fish was always on the verge of retirement, and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down”.
Later, he appeared on Broadway in The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, in Robert Shaw’s The Man in the Glass Booth and, as Abe Lincoln, in the comedy Tough to Get Help. However he lived in Little Italy for his film role an frequently visited the NY and Brooklyn streets that were featured in the movie. His other work included the films “Good Burger”, “Joe Versus the Volcano”, “Look Who’s Talking” and “Cannonball Run”. Like Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and The Masturbating Bear, Abe Vigoda fit right into the cast of randomly assembled characters on NBC’s proudly post-modern, irony-drenched Late Night With Conan O’Brien.
Abe Vigoda was a respected actor with an excellent sense of humor, even about the many false rumors about his untimely passing. (The actor riffed on his cop role in Peter Falk feature comedy “The Cheap Detective” in 1978.) Vigoda also guested on series including “Hawaii Five-O”, “Kojak”, “The Bionic Woman”, “The Rockford Files” and “Eight Is Enough”. In recent years, Vigoda made appearances on the late-night shows of David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. He is survived by his daughter and several grandchildren.
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“Abe Vigoda is here”.
