Abe Vigoda
Birth : 1921-02-24, New York City, New York, USA
Death : 2016-01-26
History
Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) proved himself in both gritty dramatic roles, and as an actor with wonderful comedic timing.
Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lena (Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, both Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor on the Lower East Side. He made his first stage appearance at the age of 17 and plodded away in small theater shows for over 20 years. For the majority of film-goers, Vigoda first came to prominence in The Godfather (1972) as the double-crossing Tessio, pleading with Robert Duvall to get him off the hook "for old times' sake." He also appeared in its sequel.
Vigoda had roles in a few nondescript TV films before landing the plum part of Sgt. Phil Fish on the brilliant sitcom Barney Miller (1974). Perhaps his best known role, Sgt. Fish proved popular enough to be spun off to his own (short-lived) series Fish (1977).
With his long face and unusual looks, Vigoda remained in high demand in mafioso-type roles, and for a while in the mid-1980s, he was mistakenly believed to have been dead, leading producers to remark, "I need an Abe Vigoda type actor," not realizing Vigoda was still alive and well. The 1990s and beyond became busy again for him, with appearances in North (1994), The Misery Brothers (1995), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), and Crime Spree (2003). He continued acting into his 90s, surprising audiences with his entertaining style.
Abe Vigoda died in his sleep on January 26, 2016 in Woodland Park, New Jersey.
A character cut from Pulp Fiction meets a characters cut from The Conversation.
Uncle Morty (segment "Frankie the Squirrel")
Somewhere, between the boundaries of life and death, lays the darkest places in the human heart. In these dimly lit recesses crouch fears older than mankind itself. Yet only by visiting this netherworld from time to time can we hope to unearth what lurks just beyond the grasp of our imaginations. The Unknown Trilogy dares to navigate these shadowy passages in three chilling tales that will make you glad you decided to come along for the ride...
Penguin from Boca (voice)
In this spoof of "March of the Penguins," nature footage of penguins near the South Pole gets a soundtrack of human voices. Carl and Jimmy, best friends, walk 70 miles to the mating grounds where the female penguins wait. The huddled masses of females - especially Melissa and Vicki - talk about males, mating, and what might happen this year. Carl, Jimmy, and the other males make the long trek talking about food, fornication and flatulence. Until this year, Carl's sex life has been dismal, but he falls hard for Melissa. She seems to like him. A crisis develops when Jimmy comes upon something soft in the dark. Can friends forgive? Does parenthood await Carl and Melissa?
Angelo Giancarlo
An out-of-town heist becomes a nightmare for a crew of French burglars when they mistakenly rob the head of the Chicago mafia. Unaccustomed to the ways of the American underworld, it is not long before they have the mafia, the FBI and a couple of street gangs on their backs as they attempt to make their way back to Paris.
The Frog
A failed Hollywood actor returns to his home town in Wisconsin and reminisces about his life in L.A. to a potential new girlfriend about his faults, auditions, misadventures, and confrontations with the evils of Hollywood.
Arty
Gary Starke is one of the best ticket scalpers in New York City. His girlfriend, Linda, doesn't approve of his criminal lifestyle, though, and dumps him when she gets the opportunity to study cooking in Paris. Gary realizes that he has to give up scalping if he has any chance of winning her back. But before he does, he wants to cash out on one last big score. He gets his chance when the pope announces he'll be performing Easter Mass at Yankee Stadium.
Paul Castellano
Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano was mafiosi. He started out as a soldier, but his talent for murder, including the slayings of his best friends, his wife's brother and his own boss, Paul Castellano, saw him rise to under-boss in the Gambino crime family. However, betrayals within the family saw him break the code of silence and became the highest ranking member of the mob to turn into a rat - 'a rat in a suit,- assisting the government to finally put away the Teflon Don, John Gotti.
Uncle Guy
Al Stanco has lived all of his life in Brooklyn and does some work for the local crime lord, Danny Parente. New to the neighbourhood is Gabriela, a filmmaker shooting a documentary on the real Brooklyn. Al and Gabriela become friendly but the relationship is strained when he discovers her true goal is to expose Parente's criminal activities. When Al sees the evidence Gabriela has uncovered, which implicates Parente in the death of many locals (including Al's own father), he seeks revenge in a dangerous confrontation with his boss.
Otis
Two hapless youths lead their burger joint in a fight against the giant fast-food chain across the street.
Zeus
The story of an old man who gets the walking farts every time a beautiful woman enters the room.
Will Cassady
A crook sets out to get revenge on the thugs who hurt his father in this bloody noir-style crime drama. After being released from prison, Johnny Crown (Denis Leary) goes after Frank (Joe Mantegna), one of the mobsters involved in a series of Father's Day killings. But Johnny isn't certain Frank is responsible for his father's injuries and seeks help from a sex therapist (Annabella Sciorra) to make sure he's got the right man.
Rudy
The Malacicis, a hard-working Italian family recently immigrated from Florence, open a fancy restaurant in the Bronx, N.Y., drawing the ire of another clan. Mike and Sadie Capomezzo, equally hard-working Sicilian caterers from the area, find they cannot stand Piero and Maria Malacici. But things get complicated when the Malacicis' daughter, Gina, and the Capomezzos' son, Rosario, fall in love.
Judge Powell
When jobless Tommy Collins discovers that sequestered jurors earn free room and board as well as $5-a-day, he gets himself assigned to a jury in a murder trial. Once there, he does everything he can to prolong the trial and deliberations and make the sequestration more comfortable for himself.
Don Frito Layleone
Screwball sex comedy focusing on two brothers.
Alaskan Grandpa
Eleven-year-old North has had it with his parents. They are always busy with their careers and don't give North the attention he needs, so he files a lawsuit against them. The judge rules that North should either find new parents or return to his own parents within two months. Thus North starts off on a journey around the world to find parents that really care about him.
Gus Molino
In the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the Mafia steps in when a drug dealer quits his partner brother to lead a straight life with his girlfriend.
Salvatore Valestra (voice)
When a powerful criminal, who is connected to Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend, blames the Dark Knight for killing a crime lord, Batman decides to fight against him.
Pawn Broker
A lonely and emotionally neglected rich kid forms an attachment to one of the men who kidnap him during a botched robbery of his father's safe.
Victor Malucci
As two rival Godfathers view to take control of the city, a hot-tempered family member kills two relatives of the opposing family, breaking the "Truce of Honor". Now the war begins! As a young boxer seeks revenge for his fiancée's death, the streets become a real-life battlefield... to settle the score!
Self
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Chief of the Waponis
Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.
Louis Keaton
Ex-mobster Keaton, now living in a retirement home, narrowly misses being the target of a mob hit. Policemen Jake, an old friend of Keaton's, and Gable, a violent cop who takes an immediate disliking to the aging gangster are called in to keep Keaton safe as well as investigate the hit. There is a turn of events though when Jake is killed by the hit-men...Gable and Keaton are forced to get along while they search for whoever killed their friend and partner. Adding to the challenge, they only have 48 hours to solve this case on their own!
Orel Benton
Jessica, the daughter of an impoverished apple farmer, still believes in Santa Claus. So when she comes across a reindeer with an injured leg, it makes perfect sense to her to assume that it is Prancer, who had fallen from a Christmas display in town. She hides the reindeer in her barn and feeds it cookies, until she can return it to Santa. Her father finds the reindeer an decides to sell it to the butcher, not for venison chops, but as an advertising display.
Grandpa
Mollie is a single working mother who's out to find the perfect father for her child. Her baby, Mikey, prefers James, a cab driver turned babysitter who has what it takes to make them both happy. But Mollie won't even consider James. It's going to take all the tricks a baby can think of to bring them together before it's too late.
Mr. Wiseman
To prove his brother's innocence, undercover officer Nick enrolls in high school again, dealing with crushes, bullies, humiliations, popularity swings, and quirky teachers and staff to find the real murderer.
Abe
Gino, a bank executive is not having a good day. After giving birth to their eighth child, his wife insists that he have a vasectomy, something he doesn't even want to think about. On top of that, he discovers that other family members are stealing money from his bank.
Stuff Commercial Spokesman
Amalgamated Dairies hires David Rutherford, an FBI man turned industrial saboteur, to investigate a popular new product called “the Stuff,” a new dessert product that is blowing ice cream sales out of the water. Nobody knows how it’s made or what’s in it, but people are lining up to buy it. It's got a delicious flavor to die for!
Caesar
When a wealthy sheikh puts up $1 million in prize money for a cross-country car race, there is one person crazy enough to hit the road hard with wheels spinning fast. Legendary driver J.J McClure enters the competition along with his friend Victor and together they set off across the American landscape in a madcap action-adventure destined to test their wits and automobile skills.
Carnival Pitchman
A large stuffed Snoopy toy goes astray at an airport baggage area, and gets involved with various travelers.
Herb
A series of freak accidents on the Los Angeles freeway traps a cast-load of familiar TV faces in an astounding traffic tie-up, with the entire system caught in a gridlock that John Beck, as a traffic expert, endeavors to unsnarl.
Mr. Frisch
A determined TV reporter is out to find a maniac who is methodically attacking lone women drivers on the Los Angeles Freeway by pushing them off the road with his powerful van.
Jake
An ex-comedian fights to keep a failing nightclub alive as a showcase for aspiring young comics.
Sergeant Rizzuto
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
Nathan Perlmutter
A shy guy gets fired for dating his boss’ girlfriend. Taking advantage of his situation he writes a book on how to pick up chicks and on the way finds his love.
Self
Dean Martin, Dom DeLuise and Georgia Engel celebrating the events, and fads of the 1920's in a humorous, music hall manner.
Al Schneider
The story of four couples who are about to have children using the Lamaze method.
Self
Over fifty of the greatest living comedians are called to a party at Bob Hope's house, where each of them is systematically killed (and their bodies thrown in Hope's pool!). Hope and the rapidly shrinking cast try to discover who is the mysterious killer known only as "Joys."
Salvatore 'Sal' Tessio
In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
John Dellanzia
LAPD Officer Newman has not gotten the reputation of a straight arrow by avoiding conflict when fighting for right. In this police drama, his honesty is put to the test when he and his partner discover an international drug ring involving some of the department's highest ranking officers.
Dominic Morrell
A humanistic account of "the Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills", in which Charles Arthur Floyd is portrayed as a decent man who has a strong sense of family and duty.
Don Talusso
After his mistress is murdered, a Mafia leader goes after the killer with a bloody vengeance. Soon after the hunt begins, a gang war ensues.
Alikhine
A young girl whose mother had sold her soul to Satan when she was born is told by Satan that she must marry a fellow demon.
Waiter (uncredited)
When his wife leaves him, a young French actor, François Combe, moves to New York to work for a television company. One evening, he meets an attractive young woman, Kay Larsi, in a bar.
