Vigoda was known best for playing perennially grumpy Detective Sergeant Phil Fish for three seasons on "Barney Miller" and another two on its spinoff, "Fish." He was also in "The Godfather" and briefly in "The Godfather Part II," playing Salvatore Tessio, a Mafia capo. Though these were his most notable roles, Vigoda was in dozens of other movies, including "Look Who's Talking," "Joe Versus the Volcano" and "Good Burger," and he was a cast member on TV shows "Dark Shadows," "As the World Turns" and "Santa Barbara."
Perhaps as well-known as Vigoda's career was the series of erroneous reports of his death. As early as 1982, when Vigoda was barely in his 60s, he was assumed dead when a People magazine story referred to him as "the late Abe Vigoda." Vigoda handled the error well, posing in a coffin, sitting up and holding a copy of the magazine with the mistake. Just five years later, the same error was made on TV station WWOR. It became a pop culture meme, one that Vigoda himself poked fun at during talk show appearances and in movie roles.
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I double checked. It's true. Loved this guy in Barney Miller.