This time, it’s really happened. Abe Vigoda, the actor whose best known roles are that of Detective Phil Fish in the TV series Barney Miller and Tessio in the movie The Godfather, passed away in his sleep Tuesday morning. Vigoda was also famous for numerous untimely reports of his death.
Mr. Vigoda’s days as a television star seemed to be behind him in 1982 when People magazine reported that he had died. Mr. Vigoda responded by placing an ad in Variety with a photo showing him sitting up in a coffin and holding a copy of the offending issue of the magazine.
His “death” became a running joke. “I have nothing to say about Abe,” Billy Crystal said at a roast of Rob Reiner at the Friars Club, where Mr. Vigoda was a regular. “I was always taught to speak well of the dead.”
There are several websites devoted to keeping Vigoda’s status accurate. Both AbeVigoda.com and Is Abe Vigoda Dead? have updated the actor’s status to deceased. Abe Vigoda was 94. -via Fark
Comments (1)
Must be nice to just stop everything and do something like this.
Looks like he had a great time though.. something he'll always remember.
1. lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition; hackneyed; stale: the trite phrases in his letter.
2. characterized by hackneyed expressions, ideas, etc.: The commencement address was trite and endlessly long.
3. Archaic. rubbed or worn by use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7dnGo_2tZA
As for what I've done this year? I started a high tech manufacturing company in the US where all of our competitors are based in China since they've been outsourced over the past twenty years. Creating local jobs, products and services is a bit more complex (and less self serving) than just walking around.
Nothing against the guy. Young people should go out and see the world before committing to a career... although there's lots of ways to "find yourself" without going through a rite of passage of this magnitude. Anyway, I've just seen this meme so many times that it doesn't impress me anymore. *Yawn*