# Abe Vigoda: Fighting The Good Fight Since 1921
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 19, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717 "2005-08-19T06:43:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/1 "2005-08-19T06:43:22Z")
If you’re a fan of Conan O’Brien you know that every once in a while he likes to bring ol’ Sideshow Abe out so he can do something funny and get immense applause from the audience. Everybody loves Abe. But it seems to me that in the past ten years or so that I’ve been watching Conan, Abe has never had a speaking part. He always does his brief bits silently. I always assumed this was for two reasons:
1. It’s more funny that way, and
2. They didn’t want to pay him.
But the past couple weeks, Conan has featured Abe bits where he actually has lines! First was Abe receiving a telephone call asking if he would come down and do a pre-tape, and then a couple nights ago, Abe was molesting avacados at the supermarket. So what’s the deal? Is Abe in dire straits? Does he need lines so he can pay his rent? Or have Conan and Co. finally recognized a vast source of untapped comic potential?
Personally, I think Abe is slowly but surely usurping Conan’s power. _Late Night with Abe Vigoda_ is mere weeks away.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/2 "2005-08-19T07:14:49Z")
“I got a girl in a Castle and one in a pagoda
You know I got rhymes like Abe Vigoda…” _Posse In Effect_ by **Beastie Boys** from [Licensed To Ill](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE57A1FDD46A87F20D79C3053CBBB72E00DDB51F8813E23454D92BB345C910E7ED749A0DAB0B8B67DAB78A6E02CA45A0A9FC9E454FCD6673F2DFC93&sql=10:pmex97e7krat)
Beastie Boys rock. Abe rules. 'Nuff said.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/3 "2005-08-19T07:16:41Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> Personally, I think Abe is slowly but surely usurping Conan’s power. _Late Night with Abe Vigoda_ is mere weeks away.
Conan is leaving to take over _The Tonight Show_ in 2009, so maybe they’re grooming Vigoda as his successor.
---
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/4 "2005-08-19T07:32:46Z")
Don’t do this to me! I was afraid Vigoda was no more!
I doubt Vigoda is super-rich but I also doubt he needs the coin. He’s got several pensions by now (SAG, Social Security) and got in a lot of lucrative appearances in his time, plus being 50 when he got his first role that could pay the bills he hopefully had the maturity and wisdom to save a bit. It could be that he had a weak voice due to illness and they worked around it.
Also, Conan’s not that stingy. He paid $50,000 for the information, supplied first class airfare/accomodations/transportation for Whitman Mayo (“Sanford & Son’s” Grady) and wife when he wanted Grady for a sketch and couldn’t find him. (Mayo had retired from acting and his former agent didn’t even know where to find him; he was in Atlanta.)
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/5 "2005-08-19T13:11:58Z")
How is dear old Abe looking these days?
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### Author:  [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/6 "2005-08-19T14:19:50Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> How is dear old Abe looking these days?
Old Abe about covers it.
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/7 "2005-08-19T15:57:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Conan is leaving to take over _The Tonight Show_ in 2009, so maybe they’re grooming Vigoda as his successor.
I knew they’d go for some hip, young, prettyboy.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/8 "2005-08-19T16:02:21Z")
\*I was Stuck…
Stuck in a pagoda
With Tricia Toyota
(I’m Stuck…)
We were watching Abe Vigoda
Then every thing will be fine
\*
😃
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/9 "2005-08-19T16:06:57Z")
Going back to read the thread…
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#):
>
> “I got a girl in a Castle and one in a pagoda
> You know I got rhymes like Abe Vigoda…” _Posse In Effect_ by **Beastie Boys** from [Licensed To Ill](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE57A1FDD46A87F20D79C3053CBBB72E00DDB51F8813E23454D92BB345C910E7ED749A0DAB0B8B67DAB78A6E02CA45A0A9FC9E454FCD6673F2DFC93&sql=10:pmex97e7krat)
>
> Beastie Boys rock. Abe rules. 'Nuff said.
Mine’s earlier. 😛
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### Author:  [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/10 "2005-08-19T16:14:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> Don’t do this to me! I was afraid Vigoda was no more!
me too. I was afraid he’d died, since he has to be in his 80s by now.
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### Author:  [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/11 "2005-08-19T16:30:25Z")
He’s 84. That means he’s worth 16 points for me in the Death Pool.
(Forget I said that. I’d rather have Abe around for a while longer.)
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/12 "2005-08-19T16:50:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Personally, I think Abe is slowly but surely usurping Conan’s power. Late Night with Abe Vigoda is mere weeks away.
“Tell Conan it was nothing personal. It was just business.”
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/13 "2005-08-19T17:02:48Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> “Tell Conan it was nothing personal. It was just business.”
He knows that, **Little Nemo**.
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/14 "2005-08-19T21:59:30Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> He always does his brief bits silently. I always assumed this was for two reasons:
>
> 1. It’s more funny that way, and
> 2. They didn’t want to pay him.
Why would he not get paid just because he didn’t talk? I mean, the guy still has to make the commitment of his time, show up for rehearsals, etc.
Also, I’m pretty sure that he’s spoken on the show in the past. No cites, though.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/15 "2005-08-20T02:22:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Why would he not get paid just because he didn’t talk? I mean, the guy still has to make the commitment of his time, show up for rehearsals, etc.
Acting union rules; if you have a speaking part, you get more money.
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/16 "2005-08-20T03:24:22Z")
Perhaps I’m misinterpreting the OP. I thought **friedo** meant that you don’t get paid _at all_ if you don’t speak.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/17 "2005-08-20T04:15:40Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#):
>
> Old Abe about covers it.
Of course, he’s looked that way since 1975.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/18 "2005-08-20T11:51:10Z")
Oddly through, he was the model of health during the Barney Miller days. He played handball and ran. He just like death warmed over.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-vigoda-fighting-the-good-fight-since-1921/317717/19 "2005-08-20T16:43:39Z")
I’m surprised to find that Vigoda was only 51 when he appeared in _The Godfather_ (his film debut) and only 56 when he left the cast of _Barney Miller_. Does anyone know if he ever looked young?