Actor / Director Profile

Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor who has proved himself in both gritty dramatic roles and as an actor with wonderful comedic timing. Vigoda was the son of a Lower East Side tailor. He made his first stage appearance at the age of 17 and plodded away in small theatre shows for over 20 years. For the majority of filmgoers, Vigoda first came to prominence in The Godfather (1972) as the double-crossing Tessio, pleading with Robert Duvall to get him off the hook "for old times' sake." He also appeared in its sequel.Vigoda also appeared in a few non-descript TV films before landing the plum role of Sgt. Phil Fish on the brilliant sitcom "Barney Miller" (1974). Perhaps his best known role, Sgt. Fish proved popular enough to be spun off to his own (short-lived) series "Fish" (1977).With his long face and unusual looks, Vigoda remained in high demand in mafioso-type roles, and for a while in the mid-1980s, he was mistakenly believed to have been dead, leading producers to remark, "I need an Abe Vigoda type actor," not realising Vigoda was still alive and well. The 1990s and beyond became busy again for him, with appearances in North (1994), The Misery Brothers (1995), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), and Crime Spree (2003). Still acting in his eighties, Abe Vigoda is continually surprising audiences with his entertaining style.