Abe Vigoda dead: The Godfather and Barney Miller actor dies aged 94

Actor Abe Vigoda, best known for his roles as mobster Sal Tessio in “The Godfather” and as detective Phil Fish on television’s “Barney Miller”, died Tuesday.

In 1982, Vigoda’s death was erroneously reported by People magazine.

The tall character actor with the characteristically slouched shoulders and hangdog face became something of a pop culture figure due to repeated false reports of his demise, which became the subject of jokes.

The question of his mortality became a running gag that he learned to live with. He said Coppola persuaded him to try.

“We lost a great character today”.

He continued to work in his later years, including doing voice roles and video games. “Fish” centered on the detective’s home life as the foster parent of five children of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. In his post-Barney years, though he still turned up in occasional movies like 1986’s Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter, Vigoda became something of a “whatever happened to”, leading to some widely circulated rumors that he was dead. I’d say Tessio got a pretty good deal in the end.

“What are you, a doctor or a producer?” Vigoda asked. He was cast on the spot.

He of course nailed the audition and won the part on Barney Miller. “Fish was always on the verge of retirement, and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down”. It lasted two seasons and 35 episodes.

He also appeared in such films as The Don Is Dead (1973), Prancer (1989), Look Who’s Talking (1989), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Sugar Hill (1993), Jury Duty (1995), Good Burger (1997), Chump Change (2000) and Crime Spree (2003).

Since the early 1980s, when People magazine mistakenly referred to the spindly, sullen, sad-eyed American character actor as dead, Vigoda’s passing has been something of a Hollywood inside joke – an early example of what we’d now call a “meme”. He also starred in a number of Broadway productions, including 1967’s Marat/Sade and 1972’s Tough to Get Help. Instead, Tessio is led off for his own execution. At a surprise 80th birthday party in New Jersey in 2001, he gave a spirited recital of the monologue to the delight of the 100 guests.

“Abe was responsible for as much of the success of “Barney Miller” as I was – easily. I don’t think Abe was ever sick”, Craig added. “I have the same friends, but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before”.

Vigoda was married twice. He had his daughter with his first wife, Sonja Gohlke, who has also died.

Robert Duvall, a “Godfather” co-star, remembered Vigoda in a statement.

He stayed busy: Here Abe is seen at The Friars Club Salute To Betty White’ in NY in 2012; Abe is survived by his daughter, Carol Vigoda.