Vincent Pastore, best known for playing gangster informant Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” has died. He was 80.
Pastore was found dead in his Bronx residence Saturday by a friend who did a wellness check after he had not been heard from for three days, his manager Steve Atterman confirmed to the Times. No cause of death was revealed.
While Pastore was best known for his time on the HBO drama starring the late James Gandolfini, he was often cast as an Italian American bad guy in other film and TV projects. His early credits include “Goodfellas,“ “Carlito’s Way” and “The Jerky Boys: The Movie.” He also appeared in the 1996 HBO TV movie “Gotti,” alongside future “Sopranos” co-stars Tony Sirico, Dominic Chianese and Frank Vincent.
A New York native, Pastore was born on July 14, 1946, in the Bronx. He fought in the Vietnam War and went on to graduate from Pace University with a degree in drama. He spent most of his young adulthood running bars and nightclubs in New Rochelle.
He didn’t get into acting until he was in his 40s in the late ‘80s at the encouragement of acting siblings Matt and Kevin Dillon. In a 1999 interview with the Times, Pastore offered his thoughts on why the brothers saw potential in him: “I guess because I looked like a gangster!”
“They used to live in a nearby town, and they used to come to my club a lot, and I became good friends with these guys,” Pastore said. “Kevin brought me down to meet his manager, and I had an interview. I took acting classes and some classes in college, but I didn’t have a clue how to break into film and the New York business. The agent gave me a guidepost, and I started doing some independents and a lot of theater. I started to study acting at 42!”
Pastore appeared in nearly 200 movies and TV projects, and twice in singing roles on Broadway (2007’s “Chicago” and 2014’s “Bullets Over Broadway” productions). But it was his role in David Chase’s 1999 drama “The Sopranos” that became his signature role.
Big Pussy was seminal to the show’s lore as Tony’s longtime best friend and trusted mob enforcer; his betrayal in becoming an FBI informant led to his murder and became one of the show’s most memorable scenes early in the show’s run.
Given his propensity to be cast as a mobster, Pastore was once asked whether he ever considered turning down a job because he thought it portrayed Italian American in a bad light.
“No, I haven’t turned any work down,” he told the Times. “The only time I turned work down is when I can’t do it because of ‘The Sopranos.’ I don’t think I am in a position [to turn down work] …when you got a daughter in grad school and you are paying her expenses, it’s pretty hard to turn a job down…You just hope the films are going to be good.”
Pastore is survived by his daughter, Renee.
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