Abraham Charles “Abe” Vigoda (born February 24, 1921) is an American film and television actor who appeared in plays, including “The Godfather”, as well as in comedies like “Barney Miller” and “Joe Versus The Volcano”. After false reports of his departure in 1982 and 1987, Abe Vigoda has become the topic of running gags concerning whether he’s dead or alive. Vigoda starred alongside Florence Stanley and Todd Bridges (before Diff’rent Strokes fame) in a short spinoff of Barney Miller that centered on his character, eponymously called Fish, until it had been canceled in June 1978. Based on Bridges, only 12 through the show’s second season, Fish was scrubbed after Vigoda demanded more cash for a third season as opposed to producers were willing to cover. Before Barney Miller, he made several appearances on the ABC TV soap opera Dark Shadows as Ezra Braithwaite and Otis Greene.
Abraham Charles Vigodah , Vigoda , Abraham Charles Vigoda , Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda
Nominations
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series
Movies
The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Look Who's Talking Too, Joe Versus the Volcano, Good Burger, Cannonball Run II, Sugar Hill, Prancer, Crime Spree, The Cheap Detective, The Don Is Dead, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, A Brooklyn State of Mind, Keaton's Cop, Fist of Honor, Jury Duty, Love Is All Th...
TV Shows
Barney Miller, Fish
Star Sign
Pisces
#
Trademark
1
Deep and distinctive voice
2
Thick, bushy eyebrows
#
Quote
1
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 (1974), 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 (1972), 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 haemorrhoids." "What are you, a doctor or a producer?"
2
I've always been content just to be working and making a modest living for my wife and child.
3
(Explaining how he ended up playing Det. Sgt. Fish on Barney Miller (1974)) "I got the role because the producer thought I looked tired. But I looked tired because I had been jogging earlier that day. He said to me, 'You look tired, Abe.' I said, 'I am. I was just jogging five miles.' He said, 'You also look like you have haemorrhoids.' I said, 'What are you? A doctor or a producer?' And he said, 'Well, I'm a producer and you know what? You've got the role.' Just like that."
#
Fact
1
He is buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York.
2
Had 3 grandchildren. Jamie, Paul, and Steven Fuchs.
Best remembered by the public for his role as Detective Fish in Barney Miller (1974).
6
Abe's father Samuel Vigoda was a tailor in New York City.
7
According to director Francis Ford Coppola, Abe was cast for the role of "Tessio" in The Godfather (1972) from an open casting call. He was selected from a pool of 500 unknown actors who auditioned for that role.
Was highly acclaimed playing the eponymous villain in "Richard III" for in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" production in the 1960s.
10
Was originally considered to play the part of The Monster in Mel Brooks' comedy classic Young Frankenstein (1974), given his height and tremendous resemblance to Boris Karloff.
11
Is a well respected and longstanding member of the New York Friar's Club.
12
In the 1980s, a well-known magazine referred to Vigoda as "the late Abe Vigoda" in a story, leading to the belief by many that he was dead. Abe enjoyed some publicity from the premature death announcement, even posing for a photograph while sitting up in a coffin!
$10 Million
