Abe Vigoda
Acting
1921-02-24 · 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.
Filmography
Cutaways
2013 · Movie
The Unknown Trilogy
2008 · Movie
Farce of the Penguins
2006 · Movie
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003 · Movie
Crime Spree
2003 · Movie
TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV
2003 · Series
Tea Cakes or Cannoli
2000 · Movie
Deadline
2000 · Series
Chump Change
2000 · Movie
The Norm Show
1999 · Series
Family Guy
1999 · Series
Witness to the Mob
1998 · Movie
Just the Ticket
1998 · Movie
A Brooklyn State of Mind
1998 · Movie
Good Burger
1997 · Movie
Farticus
1997 · Movie
A Christmas Journey Home
1996 · Movie
Promised Land
1996 · Series
Underworld
1996 · Movie
Love Is All There Is
1996 · Movie
Jury Duty
1995 · Movie
The Misery Brothers
1995 · Movie
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Series
North
1994 · Movie
Weird Science
1994 · Series
Sugar Hill
1994 · Movie
Home of Angels
1994 · Movie
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
1993 · Movie
Diagnosis: Murder
1993 · Series
Me and the Kid
1993 · Movie
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993 · Series
Fist of Honor
1993 · Movie
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980
1992 · Movie
Mad About You
1992 · Series
Lucky Luke
1992 · Series
The Adventures of the Black Stallion
1992 · Series
Law & Order
1990 · Series
Night of 100 Stars III
1990 · Movie
Wings
1990 · Series
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 · Movie
Keaton's Cop
1990 · Movie
Prancer
1989 · Movie
Look Who's Talking
1989 · Movie
B.L. Stryker
1989 · Series
Monsters
1988 · Series
Superboy
1988 · Series
Plain Clothes
1988 · Movie
Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter
1986 · Movie
MacGyver
1985 · Series
The Stuff
1985 · Movie
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · Series
Tales from the Darkside
1984 · Series
Cannonball Run II
1984 · Movie
The Big Stuffed Dog
1981 · Movie
Harper Valley
1981 · Series
Gridlock
1980 · Movie
The Littlest Hobo
1979 · Series
Death Car on the Freeway
1979 · Movie
B. J. and the Bear
1979 · Series
Supertrain
1979 · Series
$weepstake$
1979 · Series
How to Pick Up Girls!
1978 · Movie
Vega$
1978 · Series
The Comedy Company
1978 · Movie
The Cheap Detective
1978 · Movie
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
1977 · Series
The Love Boat
1977 · Series
Eight Is Enough
1977 · Series
Fish
1977 · Series
Dean Martin's Red Hot Scandals of 1926
1976 · Movie
Having Babies
1976 · Movie
The Captain and Tennille
1976 · Series
Joys
1976 · Movie
The Bionic Woman
1976 · Series
Saturday Night Live
1975 · Series
Barney Miller
1975 · Series
The Godfather Part II
1974 · Movie
Tony Orlando and Dawn
1974 · Series
Dinah!
1974 · Series
The Rockford Files
1974 · Series
Newman's Law
1974 · Movie
The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd
1974 · Movie
Tattletales
1974 · Series
The Don Is Dead
1973 · Movie
Kojak
1973 · Series
Toma
1973 · Series
Toma
1973 · Movie
The Devil's Daughter
1973 · Movie
The Sandy Duncan Show
1972 · Series
The Rookies
1972 · Series
The Godfather
1972 · Movie
Cannon
1971 · Series
Love, American Style
1969 · Series
Hawaii Five-O
1969 · Series
Mannix
1967 · Series
Dark Shadows
1966 · Series
Three Rooms in Manhattan
1965 · Movie
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Series
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Series
Buck Rogers
1950 · Series
The Bob Hope Show
1950 · Series
Suspense
1949 · Series
Studio One
1948 · Series