Abe Vigoda Net Worth

Abe Vigoda's Quotes

• (Explaining how he ended up playing Det. Sgt. Fish on Barney Miller (1975)) "I got the role because the producer thought I looked tired. But I looked tired because I had been jogging earlier that day. He said to me, 'You look tired, Abe.' I said, 'I am. I was just jogging five miles.' He said, 'You also look like you have haemorrhoids.' I said, 'What are you? A doctor or a producer?' And he said, 'Well, I'm a producer and you know what? You've got the role.' Just like that."
• I've always been content just to be working and making a modest living for my wife and child.
• While living in Los Angeles, I'd jog three to five miles a day. One morning jogging, my agent calls about a new series called Barney Miller (1975), saying, "Go there at once." Well, I was tired and exhausted ... I must have run five miles that morning. I said. "I have to go home and take a shower." "No, no, no. go right now to Studio City, you're very right for it, they know you from The Godfather (1972), they want to see you." "With my shorts?" "Go". Danny Arnold and Ted Flicker, the producers, look at me, I look at them, they look at me again. "You look tired." "Of course I'm tired, I jogged five miles this morning, I'm exhausted." "Yeah, yeah, tell me, you look like you have haemorrhoids." "What are you, a doctor or a producer?"

Interesting Facts about Abe Vigoda

1. Had one daughter, Carol, and three grandchildren (Jamie, Paul, and Steven Fuchs) by his marriage to Sonja Gohlke.
2. Was a regularly recurring visitor on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993).
3. 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!
4. Was a well-respected and long-standing member of New York's Friars Club.
5. 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.
6. Was highly acclaimed playing the eponymous villain in "Richard III" for in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" production in the 1960s.
7. Was portrayed by Michael J. Nelson on an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (1988).
8. According to director Francis Ford Coppola, Abe was cast for the role of "Tessio" in The Godfather (1972) from an open casting call. He was selected from a pool of 500 unknown actors who auditioned for that role.
9. Abe's father Samuel Vigoda was a tailor in New York City.
10. Best remembered by the public for his role as Detective Fish in Barney Miller (1975).
11. Currently living in New York City [December 2005]
12. He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974).
13. He is buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York.