Biography
Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 β 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.
Filmography (103)
The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901β1959
2016
Cutaways
2013
The Unknown Trilogy
2008
Farce of the Penguins
2006
Crime Spree
2003
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003
TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV
2003
Tea Cakes or Cannoli
2000
Chump Change
2000
Deadline
2000
The Norm Show
1999
Family Guy
1999
Just the Ticket
1998
Witness to the Mob
1998
A Brooklyn State of Mind
1998
Good Burger
1997
Farticus
1997
Love Is All There Is
1996
Underworld
1996
A Christmas Journey Home
1996
Promised Land
1996
Jury Duty
1995
The Misery Brothers
1995
North
1994
Sugar Hill
1994
Home of Angels
1994
Weird Science
1994
Touched by an Angel
1994
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
1993
Me and the Kid
1993
Fist of Honor
1993
Diagnosis: Murder
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Mad About You
1992
The Adventures of the Black Stallion
1992
Lucky Luke
1992
Keaton's Cop
1990
Night of 100 Stars III
1990
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990
Wings
1990
Law & Order
1990
Prancer
1989
Look Who's Talking
1989
B.L. Stryker
1989
Plain Clothes
1988
Superboy
1988
Monsters
1988
Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter
1986
The Stuff
1985
MacGyver
1985
Cannonball Run II
1984
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Tales from the Darkside
1984
The Big Stuffed Dog
1981
Harper Valley
1981
Gridlock
1980
Death Car on the Freeway
1979
B. J. and the Bear
1979
The Littlest Hobo
1979
$weepstake$
1979
Supertrain
1979
The Cheap Detective
1978
The Comedy Company
1978
How to Pick Up Girls!
1978
Vega$
1978
The Love Boat
1977
Eight Is Enough
1977
Fish
1977
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
1977
Joys
1976
Dean Martin's Red Hot Scandals of 1926
1976
Having Babies
1976
The Bionic Woman
1976
The Captain and Tennille
1976
Barney Miller
1975
Saturday Night Live
1975
Newman's Law
1974
The Godfather Part II
1974
The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd
1974
Tattletales
1974
Tony Orlando and Dawn
1974
The Rockford Files
1974
Dinah!
1974
The Don Is Dead
1973
The Devil's Daughter
1973
Toma
1973
Kojak
1973
Toma
1973
The Godfather
1972
The Rookies
1972
The Sandy Duncan Show
1972
Cannon
1971
Love, American Style
1969
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Mannix
1967
Dark Shadows
1966
Three Rooms in Manhattan
1965
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
The Bob Hope Show
1950
Buck Rogers
1950
Suspense
1949
Studio One
1948
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