‘Goodfellas’ Actor Paul Sorvino Dead At 83

Prolific actor Paul Sorvino died of natural causes on Monday morning. He was 83-years-old.

“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed,” Mighty Aphrodite star Mira Sorvino, 54, tweeted the afternoon of his passing. “My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”

The Brooklyn born actor died suddenly on Monday morning with his wife of eight years, conservative commentator Dee Dee Sorvino, 55, by his side in Indiana. He had been dealing with health issues for the last few years, according to the Daily Mail, and had suffered from Type II diabetes since being diagnosed in 2006. 

“Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage,” Dee Dee wrote about her husband. 

Sorvino worked in Hollywood for more than 50 years, with memorable turns in Dick Tracy, Law & Order, Romeo + Juliet, and Nixon. He racked up 172 acting credits during his storied career and has four upcoming posthumous films. 

The actor was best known for portraying Paul Cicero in 1990’s Goodfellas, alongside recently deceased Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. He was often cast as a gangster throughout his legendary career, with his final onscreen appearance as former mob boss Frank Costello in Forest Whitaker starrer Godfather of Harlem.

Life certainly imitated art when Sorvino learned disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harrassed, then sidelined his daughter Mira’s acting career, when director Peter Jackson publicly admitted that the convicted sex offender had blacklisted her in 2017.

 “He’s going to go to jail. Oh yeah. That son of a b—h. Good for him if he goes, because if not, he has to meet me. And I will kill the motherf—er. Real simple,” he threatened like an actual gangster. 

“If I had known it, he would not be walking. He’d be in a wheelchair. This pig will get his comeuppance. The law will get him. He’s going to go to jail and die in jail,” Sorvino continued. 

The dangerously doting father showed his softer side when Mira thanked him during her 1996 Academy Awards acceptance speech and he broke down sobbing on screen. 

Mira Sorvino thanked her father, Paul Sorvino, in her Oscars acceptance speech, which brought him to tears pic.twitter.com/ebzpTT1IKb

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 25, 2022

Marie Finn