New York, Jan 27 (AP) Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunken-eyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series "Barney Miller" and the doomed Mafia soldier in "The Godfather," died at age 94.
Vigoda's daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died yesterday morning in his sleep at Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age. "This man was never sick," Fuchs said.
His death brought to an end years of questions on whether he was still alive sparked by a false report of his death more than three decades ago. Though Vigoda took it in stride, the question of whether he was dead or alive became something of a running joke: There was even a website devoted to answering the much-Googled question, "Is Abe Vigoda dead?" (Yesterday, it had been updated with "Yes," with the date of his death.)
Vigoda worked in relative obscurity as a supporting actor in the New York theatre and in television until Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the 1972 Oscar-winning "The Godfather." Vigoda played Sal Tessio, an old friend of Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) who hopes to take over the family after Vito's death by killing his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino).
But Michael anticipates that Sal's suggestion for a "peace summit" among crime families is a setup and the escorts Sal thought were taking him to the meeting turn out to be his executioners.
"Tell Mike it was only business," Sal mutters to consigliere Tom Hagen, played by Robert Duvall, as he's led away.
In a statement, Duvall said yesterday it was "great working with Abe in 'The Godfather' and wonderful to have him among us. We had some great memories together and he will really be missed."
The great success of the film and "The Godfather Part II" made Vigoda's face and voice, if not his name, recognisable to the general public and led to numerous roles, often as hoodlums.
But it was his comic turn in "Barney Miller," which starred Hal Linden and ran from 1975 to 1982, that brought Vigoda's greatest recognition.
