Abe Vigoda, the veteran character actor, has died.

He was 94.

According to Vigoda’s daughter, the actor passed away Tuesday morning in his sleep. He’d been in hospice care since late last week.

Vigoda is best known for the role of Sal Tessio in the classic film The Godfather. Vigoda also starred as Detective Sgt. Phil fish on the TV show Barney Miller. Vigoda appeared in over 40 films and over 20 television shows.

Vigoda was also famous for another reason – persistent death hoaxes and false reports.

It all started in 1982 when People magazine famously referred to Vigoda as dead. Years later, another report dubbed him “the late Abe Vigoda.”

It snowballed from there, and Vigoda’s apparent “death” was the subject of gags in movies, TV shows, and talk shows – including Late Night with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

After many years of death hoaxes, character actor Abe Vigoda has passed away for real: https://t.co/xzJqKp6Fe1 pic.twitter.com/xqv0YxrpsO

— snopes.com (@snopes) January 26, 2016

RIP, Abe Vigoda