From Alex Belth at Bronx Banter comes some happy news:
“Took the train uptown, and still with time to burn, got out at 72nd street and decided to casually walk up Broadway. I had the headphones back on as I crossed Broadway and 78th street and saw what looked like Abe Vigoda on the east side of the block. Is Abe Vigoda still alive? I thought. Only one way to find out, so I removed one earphone and yelled out, ‘Hey, Mr. Vigoda.’ And the old man, bent, wearing a beige cardigan, raised his right arm, cane in hand, nodded at me and continued walking down the block.”
Tessio the Fish, looking good at 88 and hard at work on not one, not two, but three new movies. May we all have such productive senior citizenry in our future as Mr. Abe Vigoda.
(Thanks to Jon Weisman for the tip.)
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A useful resource in case you are ever wondering: http://tiny.cc/9zBn5
ReplyDeleteDoesn't he remind you of Karloff?
ReplyDeleteYou might want to note that Turner Classic Movies is doing a kind of Lubitsch Not on DVD night on the 23rd, with The Merry Widow, The Student Prince and That Uncertain Feeling (along with The Shop Around the Corner and Ninotchka).
"Can you get me off the hook, Tom? For old times' sake?"
ReplyDeleteI guess Tom Hagen did get him off the hook. Glad to hear that Abe is still alive and going strong.
Thanks, Dennis.
I think there's a certain protective effect to being one of those people who seems to have been born looking old.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to ask Abe Vigoda the ratio of Tessio jokes vs. Fish jokes he gets from people on the street. I know Barney Miller remains the cop show best loved by actual cops. Hal Linden says he still has policemen calling him "Lieutenant Miller" every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I saw Abe Vigoda was on the last episode of Conan O'Brien's Late Night show. Conan couldn't take Abe with him to Los Angeles, so he released him into the wild. It was very sad.
ReplyDeleteSteven: I remember hearing that about Barney Miller when the show was in its prime in the mid '70s-- a pretty marvelous recommendation for what is essentially a situation comedy. But the writing was consistently brilliant, and the way it dealt with issues particular to being a policeman-- I remember vividly the episode involving Gregory Sierra's traumatic reaction to killing a man in the line of duty-- was often very powerful.
ReplyDeleteRobert: I've always thought thought of him and Karloff together. If only Abe had a lisp!
Bob: Then I'm in good shape!