Tall, dour faced & 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 twenty years. For the majority of filmgoers, Vigoda first came to prominence in The Godfather 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. Perhaps his best known role, Sgt. Fish proved popular enough to be spun off to his own (short-lived) series Fish.

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, The Misery Brothers, A Brooklyn State of Mind, and Crime Spree. Still acting in his eighties, Abe Vigoda is continually surprising audiences with his entertaining style.


Has one daughter, Carol. In the 1980s, a well-known magazine referred to Vigoda as "the late Abe Vigoda" in a story, leading to the belief by many that he was dead. Abe enjoyed some publicity from the premature death announcement, even posing for a photograph while sitting up in a coffin! Was originally considered to play the part of The Monster in Mel Brooks' comedy classic Young Frankenstein (1974), given his height and tremendous resemblance to Boris Karloff. Was portrayed by Michael J. Nelson on an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988). Abe's father Samuel Vigoda was a Tailor in New York City.