abe vigoda

Abe Vigoda, June 2007 Born Abraham Charles Vigodah

February 24, 1921 (1921-02-24) (age 87)

New York City, New York Other name(s) Abe Vigoda Occupation Actor Years active 1949 –

Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (born February 24, 1921) is an American movie and television actor. Contents [hide] 1 Early life and family 2 Career 3 False reports of his death 4 Trivia 5 Filmography 6 Television work 7 References 8 External links //

Early life and family

Vigoda was born in New York City, the son of Lena (née Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia.[1][2] His father was a tailor and his brother Bill Vigoda was a comic-book artist who drew for the "Archie" comics franchise and others in the 1940s.[3]

Career

Vigoda gained fame through his supporting character roles, notably as mobster Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972). He gained further fame playing Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the sit-com television series Barney Miller from 1975-1977, and then led its brief spinoff Fish until it was cancelled in 1978. Before Barney Miller, he made a few appearances on the ABC-TV soap Dark Shadows. He has also appeared in several Broadway productions, including Marat/Sade (1967), The Man in the Glass Booth (1968), Inquest (1970), Tough to Get Help (1972), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1987).

Mr. Vigoda has been mentioned in popular works by musical artists such as the Beastie Boys, Liz Phair and The Dickies "Stuck in a Pagoda with Tricia Toyota." He makes regular appearances as himself (usually in skits relating to his "advanced age") on the television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

On Monday, January 20, 2009, the Today Show did a before and after piece on Presidents (showing how they age). As a joke, they showed Matt Lauer before and Abe Vigoda after. It drew a lot of laughs. On Friday, January 23, 2009, Abe Vigoda appeared live in the 8:30AM segment to continue the laughs with Meredith Vieira, Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Natalie Morales. He said he is doing well, joked about previous reports of his death and in fact announced he had just completed a voice over for an H&R Block commercial to air during the Super Bowl.

Abe Vigoda resides on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

False reports of his death

In 1982, People magazine erroneously declared him dead. Vigoda took the error with good humor, posing for a photograph showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding the magazine in question. This rumor was nearly started again in 1987 when a reporter for Secaucus, New Jersey television station WWOR, Channel 9 erroneously referred to him as "the late Abe Vigoda".[citation needed] She corrected herself on the air the next day.

Erroneous reports of Vigoda's death as well as questions of whether he is alive or dead have become a running joke: A Late Night with David Letterman skit showed Letterman trying to summon Vigoda's ghost. Vigoda then walked in and declared, "I'm not dead,