Biography
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...
Known For
Complete Filmography
Cutaways
2013
A character cut from Pulp Fiction meets a characters cut from The Conversation.
The Unknown Trilogy
2008
as 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 m...
Farce of the Penguins
2006
as 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 frien...
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003
as Self
Conan O'Brien celebrates ten years of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in this one-hour special. Many guest appearances and clip montages show us how f...
Crime Spree
2003
as 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 way...
Tea Cakes or Cannoli
2000
Life through the eyes of a sixteen-year old boy growing up in Boston's north side. Director Francine Pellegrino captures the richness of Boston-Italia...
Chump Change
2000
as 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, a...
Witness to the Mob
1998
as 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 b...
Just the Ticket
1998
as 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 h...
A Brooklyn State of Mind
1998
as 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 fi...
Good Burger
1997
as Otis
Two L.A. teens with summer jobs at Good Burger try to save their small restaurant when a corporate giant burger franchise moves in across the street.
Farticus
1997
as Zeus
The story of an old man who gets the walking farts every time a beautiful woman enters the room.
A Christmas Journey Home
1996
as Grandpa
Young Billy sneaks his grandfather out of the nursing home for one last Christmas. On their way home, they become targets of a New York City street ga...
Underworld
1996
as 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...
Love Is All There Is
1996
as 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...
Jury Duty
1995
as 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 mur...
The Misery Brothers
1995
as Don Frito Layleone
Screwball sex comedy focusing on two brothers.
North
1994
as 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 ...
Sugar Hill
1994
as Gus Molino
In the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the Mafia steps in when a drug dealer quits his partner and brother to lead a straight life with his girl...
Home of Angels
1994
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
1993
as Salvatore Valestra (voice)
Andrea Beaumont leaves her father to return to Gotham, rekindling an old romance with Bruce Wayne. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins to hun...
Me and the Kid
1993
as 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.
Fist of Honor
1993
as 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...
Night of 100 Stars III
1990
as Self
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Keaton's Cop
1990
as 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 Gabl...
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990
as 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 th...
Prancer
1989
as 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 make...
Look Who's Talking
1989
as 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 w...
Plain Clothes
1988
as Mr. Wiseman
To prove his brother's innocence, undercover officer Nick enrolls in high school again, dealing with crushes, bullies, humiliations, popularity swings...
Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter
1986
as 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 doe...
The Stuff
1985
as 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 dess...
Cannonball Run II
1984
as 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 wheel...
The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic
1981
as Salvatore "Sal" Tessio (uncredited)
The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic is a reduced, 386-minute version of the 1977 television miniseries, "Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Comple...
The Big Stuffed Dog
1981
as Carnival Pitchman
A large stuffed Snoopy toy goes astray at an airport baggage area, and gets involved with various travelers.
Gridlock
1980
as 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 ...
Death Car on the Freeway
1979
as 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 r...
How to Pick Up Girls!
1978
as Nathan Perlmutter
The amusing adventures of an unsophisticated small-town lad who arrives in New York, moves in with his swinging buddy, and surprisingly becomes an aut...
The Comedy Company
1978
as Jake
An ex-comedian fights to keep a failing nightclub alive as a showcase for aspiring young comics.
The Cheap Detective
1978
as 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...
Dean Martin's Red Hot Scandals of 1926
1976
as Self
Dean Martin, Dom DeLuise and Georgia Engel celebrating the events, and fads of the 1920's in a humorous, music hall manner.
Having Babies
1976
as Al Schneider
The story of four couples who are about to have children using the Lamaze method.
Joys
1976
as 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 t...
The Godfather Part II
1974
as 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 at...
Newman's Law
1974
as 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 ...
The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd
1974
as 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 fa...
The Don Is Dead
1973
as 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.
Toma
1973
as Donzer
This TV-pilot, later made into a TV-series, is about a cop in Newark, New Jersey, who defies his superiors to try to bring down the head of a Mafia nu...
The Devil's Daughter
1973
as 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.
The Godfather
1972
as Sal Tessio
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corl...
Three Rooms in Manhattan
1965
as 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 attractiv...