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Abe Vigoda

Abe Vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Born: Feb 24, 1921 in New York City, New York
Occupation: Actor
Active: '70s-'90s
Major Genres: Comedy, Crime
Career Highlights: Look Who's Talking, Joe Versus the Volcano, Prancer
First Major Screen Credit: Death Car on the Freeway (1979)
21 Videos for Abe Vigoda
Farce of the Penguins (2007) North (1994) Look Who's Talking (1989)
Just the Ticket (1999) Sugar Hill (1994) Prancer (1989)
Witness to the Mob (1998) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) The Stuff (1985)
Good Burger (1997) Me and the Kid (1993) Cannonball Run II (1984)
Love Is All There Is (1996) Fist of Honor (1992) Newman's Law (1974)
Underworld (1996) Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) The Godfather Part II (1974)
Jury Duty (1995) Keaton's Cop (1989) The Godfather (1972)
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Biography:

Slouch-shouldered, basset-faced character actor Abe Vigoda was the son of a Lower East Side tailor. Making his first stage appearance at 17, Vigoda used his GI Bill allotment to study at the American Theatre Wing. He then toiled away in obscurity for nearly 20 years before he was discovered by the public in the role of John the Gaunt in Joseph Papp's 1961 staging of {~Richard II}.

Another decade would pass before Vigoda attained worldwide fame as the treacherous Tessio in The Godfather. In 1974, he was tested for the minor role of Grimaldi in the upcoming TV sitcom Barney Miller; instead, he landed the role of dour, droopy-eyed Inspector Fish (and a good thing, too; the Grimaldi character was written out after only a few weeks).

Vigoda remained with Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977, then was spun off into his own Fish series, which lasted until 1978. Bedeviled with legal problems during the early 1980s, Vigoda nonetheless was able to keep busy as a supporting actor in films (Joe vs. the Volcano, Look Who's Talking) and television; he also periodically returned to the stage, frequently in the Boris Karloff role in {~Arsenic and Old Lace}.

Abe Vigoda's 1990s projects have included such roles as Gus Molino in Harlem (1993) and Alaskan Grandpa in North (1994), a voice over stint in the 1994 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantom, and a recurring role in the 1991 weekly-TV revival of Dark Shadows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.