With all due respect to Phil Fish, the sad-sack character from Barney Miller wasn't the first thing we thought of when we heard the news that Abe Vigoda had died. To most of a certain age, he'll always be Sal Tessio. And he'll always be asking the same question, over and over again: "Tom, can you get me off the hook--for old times' sake?"
Richard Pryor did a whole 10-minute routine on that minute-long scene from The Godfather. In a film full of scenes and dialogue and brilliant performances, that is one that still stands out.
"Can't do it, Sally."
And off to his doom Tessio went. His punishment for betraying the new Don.
No, as funny as Fish could be (he even got his own spin-off series) and as hip as Mr. Vigoda was to do the Snickers commercial with Betty White, he'll always be linked to one character above all. He joins James Caan, Richard Castellano, John Cazale and many others from that movie in that regard.
But if you're going to be linked to one character, what a character.
Goodbye Tessio, er, Mr. Vigoda. There's a car waiting for you.
Editorial on 01/28/2016