Abe Vigoda in a wombat suit at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Oct. 31, 2013.
In their song “Wombat,” the band Phish immortalized actor Abe Vigoda — who died today at the age of 94, in Woodland Park — with the lines, “It’s kinda like the theme from the ‘Fish’ TV show/You know, with Abe Vigoda.” And at their Halloween 2013 concert at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, the band invited the nonagenarian onstage with them. Check it out below.
Vigoda presumably did not dance during the song — a younger man in a wombat suit did — but changed into the costume afterwards, and walked out to take a bow, as if he had been the one doing the dancing. You can see him in the clip below at the 6-minute mark.
Phish usually covers another band’s album, not announcing it ahead of time, at its Halloween shows. At that one, though, they performed songs from their Wingsuit album, which was not released until 2014. “Wombat” is a song from Wingsuit.
Vigoda was best known for playing Det. Sgt. Phil Fish in the sitcoms “Barney Miller” and its spinoff, “Fish,” but his long career included many other roles as well, including Sal Tessio in “The Godfather.”
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