Abe Vigoda Forgotten in Oscars ‘In Memoriam’

It’s bound to happen now and then. The Academy Awards tradition of honoring the stars who departed in the last year has a lot of ground to cover. This year Abe Vigoda, among others, were omitted.
Abe Vigoda Forgotten in Oscars ‘In Memoriam’
Abe Vigoda: (L) At The Motion Picture Club's Annual Luncheon, Oct. 6, 2005. (Marriott Marquis, NYC) (R) Playing his most famous character, Detective Fish in "Barney Miller," Aug. 8, 1977. (AP Photo/Jeff Robbins)
Cindy Drukier
2/29/2016
Updated:
3/1/2016

It’s bound to happen now and then. The Academy Awards tradition of honoring the stars who departed in the last year has a lot of ground to cover. Still, one expects the researchers to provide a comprehensive list. 

At the 88th Oscars this year, actor Abe Vigoda was most notably left off the list. Vigoda, known especially for his role as Detective Fish in the 1970s TV series “Barney Miller” was also a prolific stage and screen actor, with about 40 movie credits to his name.

His most famous silver screen role was certainly playing Salvatore Tessio in “The Godfather” movies. He was also in “Cannonball Run II” (1984), “Joe Versus the Volcano” (1990), and was a mob boss in Wesley Snipes’s “Sugar Hill” in 1993.

Vigoda died at the advanced age of 94 on Jan. 26, 2015 in New Jersey. In one famous incident in 1982, People Magazine mistakenly pronounced Vigoda dead.

Cindy Drukier is a veteran journalist, editor, and producer. She's the host of NTD's International Reporters Roundtable featured on EpochTV, and perviously host of NTD's The Nation Speaks. She's also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her two films are available on EpochTV: "Finding Manny" and "The Unseen Crisis"
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