Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor best known for The Godfather, Barney Miller, and Fish.
He was married to Sonja Gohlke and Beatrice Schy, and had one child with Gohlke.
Vigoda died in 2016 at the age of 94 in his sleep. It should be noted that prior to his actual death, Vigoda was a constant victim of celebrity death hoaxes, perhaps the most famous being in 1982 when People magazine mistakenly referred to Vigoda as dead, running a premature obituary. For years a website, abevigoda.com, was set up simply to inform the world of his status. (The website answered the question "Is Abe Vigoda dead?" with a picture of Vigoda and the word "No". For a few years after his actual death the website had crosses over his eyes and the word "Yes." As of March 2021 the website is offline.) Vigoda for his part took the death hoaxes 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.
Film Roles
- Three Rooms In Manhattan as Waiter (Uncredited Role)
- The Godfather as Tessio
- The Godfather Part II as Tessio
- The Don Is Dead as Don Talusso
- Newmans Law as John Dellanzia
- The Cheap Detective as Sgt. Rizzuto
- Cannonball Run II as Caesar
- The Stuff as Special Guest Star in Stuff Commercial
- Vasectomy A Delicate Matter as Det. Abe Fossi
- Plain Clothes as Mr. Wiseman
- Look Who's Talking as Grandpa
- Prancer as Orel Benton
- Keatons Cop as Louis Keaton
- Joe Versus the Volcano as Chief of the Waponis
- Fist Of Honor as Victor Malucci
- Me And The Kid as Pawn Broker
- Sugar Hill (1974) as Gus Molino
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm as Salvatore Valestra
- North as Alaskan Grandpa
- Jury Duty as Judge Powell
- Home Of Angels as Grandpa
- The Misery Brothers as Don Frito Layleone
- Love Is All There Is as Rudy
- Underworld 1996 as Will Cassady
- A Christmas Journey Home as Grandpa
- Good Burger as Otis
- Farticus as Zeus
- A Brooklyn State Of Mind as Uncle Guy
- Just The Ticket as Arty
- Chump Change as The Frog
- Crime Spree as Angelo Giancarlo
- Farce of the Penguins as Penguin from Boca
- The Unknown Trilogy as Uncle Morty
- Sweet Destiny
Television Roles
- All Star Revue as Guest Comic/Cab Driver (2 episodes)
- Dark Shadows as Ezra Braithwaite/Otis Greene (3 episodes)
- The Sandy Duncan Show as Mr. Samuelson (1 episode)
- Mannix as Anton Valine (1 episode)
- Love, American Style as Mr. Burdick (1 episode)
- The Rookies as Michael Lance (1 episode)
- Hawaii Five-O as Abe Kemper (1 episode)
- Kojak as Kilty (1 episode)
- Cannon as Mr. Couzellous (1 episode)
- The Bionic Woman as Barlow (1 episode)
- Barney Miller as Det. Phil Fish (61 episodes)
- Fish as Det. Phil Fish
- Vega$ (1978) as Max (1 episode)
- The Rockford Files as Phil 'The Dancer' Gabriel/Al Dancer (2 episodes)
- The Love Boat as Charlie Fletcher (1 episode)
- Supertrain as Ray Yellburton (1 episode)
- Eight is Enough as Ben Ryan (1 episode)
- Fantasy Island as Joe Lange/Sid Gordon (2 episodes)
- B.J. and the Bear as Grandpa Ben Rule (1 episode)
- The Littlest Hobo as Howard Mattson (1 episode)
- Harper Valley PTA as Slick (1 episode)
- Tales from the Darkside as Jake Corelli (1 episode)
- The Adventures of Superboy as Mr. Wagner (1 episode)
- Santa Barbara as Lyle DeFranco (7 episodes)
- Monsters as Dolan (1 episode)
- MacGyver (1985) as Bill Cody (1 episode)
- The New Adventures Of The Black Stallion as D.J. Lancaster (1 episode)
- Murder, She Wrote as George (1 episode)
- Lucky Luke as Judge Rinehart (1 episode)
- Diagnosis: Murder as Alfredo Bartolo/Al Bartell/Mr. Johnson (1 episode)
- Law & Order as Ret. Det. Landis (1 episode)
- Weird Science as Old Man Lisa (1 episode)
- Wings as Harry (1 episode)
- Touched by an Angel as Receptionist Angel (1 episode)
- Promised Land (1996) as Albert Spokaine (1 episode)
- Mad About You as Kalman Wertzel (1 episode)
- The Norm Show as Sal (1 episode)
- Manhattan AZ as Ben (3 episodes)
- Deadline as Joseph Spiaggio (1 episode)
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Ground Vigoda/Abe-rod/Lobster/Abe Viyoda (4 episodes)
- High School U.S.A. as Otto (1 episode)
Video Game Roles
- The Godfather as Salvatore Tessio
- The Godfather Mob Wars as Salvatore Tessio
- The Godfather Blackhand Edition as Sal Tessio
