Abe Vigoda mini-bio: Abe Vigoda (born Abraham Charles Vigodah) is an American movie and television actor.
Vigoda was born in New York City to Lena and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. Vigoda gained fame through his supporting character roles, notably as mobster Sal Tessio in the 1972 movie The Godfather. He later played Detective Sgt. Fish on the television series Barney Miller and its spinoff Fish. Before Barney Miller, he made a few appearances on the ABC-TV soap Dark Shadows.
He has been mentioned in popular works by artists such as the Beastie Boys and Liz Phair. He makes regular appearances as himself (usually in skits 'relating' to his age) on the television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. There is also a Tropical Post Punk Band named Abe Vigoda.
In 1982, Vigoda enjoyed a little extra publicity when 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. Since then his erroneous death has remained a running joke for Vigoda; for example, a November 2006 Conan O'Brien sketch shows an audience member "summoning the dead." The "deceased person" turns out to be Vigoda. 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." She corrected herself on the air the next day.
In 1999 Vigoda experienced a potentially life-threatening situation. While he was a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 180 from San Diego to New York, the plane experienced a burst compressed air line in the passenger cabin. Oxygen masks were deployed, and the plane made an emergency descent and landing in Palm Springs. Vigoda and five other passengers were listed as "slightly injured."
In 2006, Vigoda reprised the role of Tessio in The Godfather: The Game.
Mr. Vigoda now resides in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
