Abe Vigoda Sleeps With the Fishes

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In the classic film The Godfather Sal Tessio, played by Abe Vigoda, delivers one of the lines from the movie that has become part of popular culture. When asked what a fish wrapped in Luka Brasi's bullet-proof vest meant, Tessio replied, "That's an old Sicilian message. It means Luka Brasi sleeps with the fishes." Abe Vigoda died on Tuesday (1/26) at his daughter's home. She told the media that the 94-year-old character actor "died of old age." In addition to his legendary role in The Godfather Vigoda also played Phil Fish, the cranky detective in the ABC series Barney Miller. His character was later spun off into the series Fish. Vigoda had a long career, appearing in TV series, movies, and even a Snickers commercial a few years ago. In 1982 People magazine erroneously reported him as dead. Showing his sense of humor, Vigoda posed with a copy of the magazine, sitting inside a coffin. Over the years he has been repeatedly referred to as deceased despite being alive and working. It became such a joke that a web site was actually started to keep people updated with the fact that Vigoda was alive. Sadly, now he truly has passed away. Given the history of hoaxes surrounding him, a number of Vigoda's obituaries mentioned the fact that "this is not a hoax." Certainly Abe would have appreciated the humor. Farewell to a great character actor who gave us two of the iconic characters of our time, Barney Miller's Phil Fish and The Godfather's Sal Tessio.