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Abe Vigoda, the beloved actor known for playing Det. Fish on Barney Miller and mobster Sal Tessio in The Godfather, and for weathering years of mistaken reports about his death, died in his sleep in New Jersey on Tuesday, January 26, at the age of 94.
Audiences first got to know the actor in 1972â??s The Godfather, when the then 51-year-old actor played Tessio, a longtime friend and associate of the Corleone family whoâ??s killed when the Corleones find out heâ??s been working with a rival mob family.
In 1975, Vigoda began playing Det. Phil Fish on the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning ABC sitcom Barney Miller. Fish was a cantankerous New York City detective whose advancing age had led to a lot of physical ailments, namely a persistent hemorrhoids issue that fed his grumpiness and made the squadâ??s bathroom one of his frequent hangouts.
The role earned Vigoda three Emmy nominations, and led to a spin-off, Fish, in which an eventually-retired Fish and his wife Bernice (Florence Stanley) raised a group of foster children (including one played by a pre-Diffâ??rent Strokes Todd Bridges). The series ran for two seasons on ABC.
Abe Vigoda, '''Barney Miller''' and '''Godfather''' Star, Dies at 94
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