Abe Vigoda Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Abe Vigoda was born on February 24th in 1921. Earlier on in his film career, he was struggling to land essential roles in the film industry. This changed during the 1960s as he began featuring in crucial roles in movies. His career’s breaking point came in 1972 after playing The Godfather. Three years later he stared at Barney Miller. His recent appearance in the movie industry was with the lending of his voice to Farce of the Penguins. Abe Vigoda died at the age of 94.

Early Life

Abraham Charles AKA Abe Vigoda was born on February 24th in 1921. His place of birth was in Brooklyn, New York. Samuel and Lena were Vigoda’s parents. Both of them were immigrants from Russia. Vigoda had two other siblings.

Early Career

Abe Vigoda’s character in the movie industry brought changes for more than four decades. His voice and facial appearance landed him specific roles while acting. The beginning of his screenplay was slow as he struggled a lot. This changed in the 1960s after he began to get noticed.

In 1968, he was featured in The Man in the Glass Booth. A few years later, his signature achievement was after starring in The Godfather in 1972. Two years later, he featured in the movie’s sequel – The Godfather II.

Success Galore

In 1975, Abe Vigoda also landed another significant role while playing Detective Phil Fish in the comic Barney Miller. The title character of the show was called Hal Linden. Linden was the police captain and that he was following the misadventures of Detective Fish. His role in the show got accessible to the extent that Vigoda managed to get his TV show titled Fish - 1977. However, the show only runs for about a year before it came to an end in 1978.

Later on, Vigoda featured in other films during the 80s including Cannonball Run II and Look Who's Talking both in 1984 and 1989 respectively. During this period, he returned to a prime-time TV. He made guest appearances in several shows including Law & Order, She Wrote, MacGyver and several others. Daytime dramas were also his thing as he appeared in Santa Barbara and World Turns.

A farce of the Penguins was one of the movies where Abe Vigoda lent his gravelly voice. Other video games that were based on the Godfather movie series also relied heavily on his voice. He was also an everyday guest on the show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Personal Life

In 1968, Abe Vigoda got married to Beatrice Schy. Together this couple had one daughter named Carol. The two spent time together until the death of Beatrice in 1992. Vigoda was a passionate jogger, and this kept him healthy and active for a long time. Vigoda died peacefully while at Carol’s place in Woodland Park, New Jersey. He died on January 26th, 2016 at an old age of 94.

Celebrities that worked with Abe Vigoda mourn his death and more so the famous role he played in the Godfather.