Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (/vᵻˈɡoʊdə/; February 24, 1921 - January 26, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for a number of roles, especially his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather and Phil Fish in Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977 and Fish from 1977 to 1978.

Early life

Vigoda was born Abraham Charles Vigoda in Brooklyn, New York on February 24, 1921, the son of Samuel and Lena Vigoda (née Moses), Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor who had two other sons: Hy and Bill. The latter was a comic book artist who drew for the Archie Comics franchise and others in the 1940s.

Career

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

He gained acting notability in the 1960s with his work in Broadway productions, including Marat/Sade (1967) playing "Mad Animal", The Man in the Glass Booth (1968) playing "Landau", Inquest (1970), and Tough to Get Help (1972). 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 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 as 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 that he was a perfect fit 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?"

Vigoda starred in a brief spin-off of Barney Miller that centered on his character eponymously titled Fish until it was cancelled in June 1978.

Mistaken reports of his death

In 1982, People magazine mistakenly referred to Vigoda as dead. At the time, Vigoda, aged 60, 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.

In 1987, the same mistake was made when a reporter for 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.

He had been the subject of many running gags pertaining to the mistaken reports of his death. In 1997, Vigoda appeared in Good Burger as the character Otis, a restaurant's French fry man. Several jokes were made about his advanced age, including his character Otis saying "I should've died years ago." That same year, he was shopping at Bloomingdale's in Manhattan when the salesman remarked, "You look like Abe Vigoda. But you can't be Abe Vigoda because he's dead." A Late Night with David Letterman skit showed Letterman trying to summon Vigoda's ghost, but Vigoda walked in and declared, "I'm not dead yet, you pinhead!"

At a New York Friars Club roast of Rob Reiner which Vigoda attended, Billy Crystal wisecracked, "I have nothing to say about Abe. I was always taught to speak well of the dead."

In May 2001, a website was mounted with only one purpose: To report whether Vigoda was alive or dead. 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 Late Night with Conan O'Brien, including a guest appearance on the show's final episode. At the 1998 New York Friars Club roast of Drew Carey, with Vigoda in the audience, Jeff Ross joked, "my one regret is that Abe Vigoda isn't alive to see this". He followed that with "Drew, you go to Vegas; 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 during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. The synopsis made fun of the advanced age of the actors. The Super Bowl Ad Meter poll respondents rated the ad the highest of any shown during the game.

Personal life

Vigoda and his first wife Sonja Gohlke had one daughter named Carol (born January 18, 1945). The marriage ended in divorce. His second marriage to Beatrice Schy lasted from 1968 until her death in 1992.

Vigoda enjoyed playing handball and stated in an interview that he was "almost" a champion at the game in his youth.

Death

On January 26, 2016, Vigoda died in his sleep at his daughter Carol Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey of natural causes at age 94. He is survived by his daughter, three grandchildren and a great-grandson.

Vigoda's funeral was held on January 31, 2016.

Oscars In Memoriam snub

Many of Vigoda's fans were outraged that he did not appear in the In Memoriam sequence of the 2016 Academy Awards show. Abe's daughter Carol Vigoda Fuchs was incensed, saying: "Abe's family feels disappointed and cheated by the Academy. Abe gave his life and heart to acting, and a simple tribute in recognition of his devotion was overlooked." She also wondered why the Academy didn't include her father, but did include Alex Rocco in the same segment, who played Moe Greene in The Godfather alongside Abe. Carol went on to say in an interview with The New York Times, "I have to say it was very disappointing, and I feel that we were all cheated and I don't understand why. I am assuming it was a mistake. This is the final curtain, this is the big one, and wow, why no tribute?" In response to a question, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences emailed this statement: "Abe Vigoda is among the many worthy artists and filmmakers we were unfortunately unable to feature in the In Memoriam segment of this year's Oscars show. Vigoda is, however, included in our In Memoriam gallery on Oscar.com."

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

• 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)
• Superboy (Season 1, Episode 3 "Back to Oblivion" - 1988)
• 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)
• High School USA! (ep. 12, 2014)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]