Character Actor Abe Vigoda, Godfather‘s ‘Tessio,’ Dies at 94

Abe Vigoda is actually dead. The character actor perhaps best known as the mob lieutenant Tessio from The Godfather, who brought a gruff, avuncular persona to six decades of American film and television, passed away Tuesday, AP reported. He was 94.

The nonagenarian thespian has been reported dead twice before — in 1982 by People magazine and 1987 by a local station in Secaucus, New Jersey — and has been the subject of numerous death hoaxes since then.

Vigoda took it in stride, appearing on The Late Show with Dave Letterman in 1988 to spoof the greatly exaggerated reports of his death.

Abe Vigoda, who was famously first reported dead by People Magazine in 1982, has died, according to @AP

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 26, 2016

After many years of death hoaxes, character actor Abe Vigoda has passed away for real: https://t.co/xzJqKp6Fe1 pic.twitter.com/xqv0YxrpsO

— snopes.com (@snopes) January 26, 2016

The best way to honor Abe Vigoda is to keep insisting he’s still alive

— Devlin Barrett (@DevlinBarrett) January 26, 2016

[image via Wikicommons]

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