Happy Birthday: Abe Vigoda (1921–2016)

Abe Vigoda (1921–2016)

Born: February 24, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died: January 26, 2016 (age 94) in Woodland Park, New Jersey, USA

(Explaining how he ended up playing Det. Sgt. Fish on Barney Miller (1974)) “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…