Abe Vigoda, the “Godfather” and “Barney Miller” star who died today at age 94, was dogged by reports of his death as far back as the early 1980s — so much so that the whole thing became a running gag across late-night television and elsewhere, with Vigoda often in on the joke.
In a 1980s appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman,” Vigoda showed up to prove that a recent news story about his untimely demise was untrue. (See video above.) Later on, he regularly popped by “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” to poke fun at his own still-alive persona.
In the end, the joke really was his: Vigoda lived another three decades and easily survived both of those classic talk shows.
