Abe Vigoda

Abe Vigoda

Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (/vɨˈɡoʊdə/; born February 24, 1921) is an American movie and television actor who appeared in such movies as The Godfather and Good Burger. Vigoda is well known for his portrayal of Sal Tessio in The Godfather and for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the sitcom television series Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977 and on its spinoff show Fish that aired from February 1977 to June 1978 on ABC. Vigoda was also appearing on Barney Miller at the same time as he was on Fish during the 1976–1977 TV season; at the start of the 1977–1978 season, his character retired from the police force and left Barney Miller to focus full-time on the spinoff.

After mistaken reports of his death in 1982 and 1987, Vigoda has been the subject of running gags as to whether he is dead or alive. A website was mounted and a Firefox extension was written solely to report on Vigoda's status. Good naturedly, he made regular appearances on television shows to make fun of the error. In February 2010, Vigoda appeared with fellow octogenarian Betty White in a widely seen and well-liked Super Bowl ad for Snickers candy bars. Abe joined The Lambs in 2002 and in 2011 was made an Honorary Member to that theatrical organization.