Abe Vigoda, star of The Godfather Part I and II, has passed away at the age of 94.

Vigoda, who also starred in '70s sitcom Barney Miller, regularly appeared on Conan O'Brien and various late-night talk shows to lampoon a bizarre story that circulated about him throughout the '80s and '90s.

A misreport in People Magazine in 1982 prompted just about every publication to report his death, however the actor then appeared on David Letterman to make fun of the mix-up.

Conan O'Brien then get the joke up, with a website eventually set up to check on whether he was dead or not. Vigoda's later career saw him appear in various commercials, lampooning both his Godfather role and the controversy surrounding his erroneously reported death.