Barney Miller and Godfather Actor Abe Vigoda Passes Away at 94

An actor who became a household name and a familiar face through appearances on film and on TV has died.

Carol Vigoda Fuchs said her father – best known for roles in The Godfather and sitcom Barney Miller – passed away at her home in New Jersey. Before being led to his death, Tessio makes a plea to Robert Duvall’s character, asking, “Can you get me off the hook, for old times’ sake?” “This man was never sick”, Fuchs said.

His first significant film role was in Francis Ford Coppola’s landmark 1972 Mafia saga, “The Godfather”, in which he played Salvatore Tessio, a seemingly loyal capo in the Corleone crime family.

Hal Linden, in the title role, was officially the star, but Vigoda proved the sleeper in the cast, portraying the tired, hemorrhoidal Phil Fish, a detective with almost 40 years on the force. (The actor riffed on his cop role in Peter Falk feature comedy “The Cheap Detective” in 1978.) Vigoda also guested on series including “Hawaii Five-O”, “Kojak”, “The Bionic Woman”, “The Rockford Files” and “Eight Is Enough”.

He was seen in dozens of movies as well, including “Cannonball Run II” (1984), “Look Who’s Talking” (1989), “Joe Versus the Volcano” (1990), “Sugar Hill” (1993) and “Underworld” (1996).

Abe Vigoda was married to Beatrice Schy from 1968 to 1992.

“He took it in good humour and so on, and so I went and met him and chatted with him and took a picture of him jogging down the street denying he was dead”, said Geddes, now senior digital producer at CBC Edmonton.

He is survived by his daughter, grandchildren Jamie, Paul and Steven and a great-grandson.

Vigoda died about 34 years after People magazine started the rumor that the actor was dead.

Curiously, nearly 30 years ago, a false report of Vigoda’s death began a long-running joke of whether he was dead or alive.

For the next few decades, Vigoda enjoyed a steady career in film and TV, often being cast in the gangster and cop roles that made him famous. For betraying Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), his character is sent to “sleep with the fishes” in a Godfather: Part II flashback scene.

Born in New York City on February 24, 1921, Abraham Charles Vigodah was the son of Jewish immigrants from Russian Federation.

People magazine accidentally “whacked” him in 1982, referring to the actor as “the late Abe Vigoda”. In 2010, he starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers with Betty White. “They kept looking at me, as if to say, ‘What family is he from?’ ” the actor recalled years later on CNN.