Vincent Pastore, best known for his iconic portrayal of mobster Salvatore ‘Big Pu**y’ Bonpensiero on HBO‘s The Sopranos, has died at age 80.
He had not been heard from for three days before a neighbor discovered his body at his home in the Bronx. An investigation is underway, according to Deadline.
Pastore was beloved by fans of The Sopranos for his nuanced performance as Pu**y, who is ultimately exposed as an FBI informant and shot.
Born in 1946 to an Italian family in the Bronx, he was often cast in mafia roles, including a bit part in GoodFellas and a larger role in the 1996 HBO film Gotti.
His television career included frequent guest shots on Law & Order, as well as reality shows ranging from Celebrity Apprentice to Dancing with the Stars.
In his later years, he ran a theater company that produced multiple plays a year and reunited him with a number of The Sopranos alumni, including Anthony Ribustello, who featured as the chauffer of James Gandolfini’s lead character Tony Soprano.
The Daily Mail has contacted the New York City Police Department and the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for comment.
Actor Vincent Pastore, best known for his iconic portrayal of mobster Salvatore ‘Big Pu**y’ Bonpensiero on HBO’s The Sopranos, has died at age 80; pictured 2006
Pastore is pictured (right) with (from left) Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini and Michael Imperioli in a publicity still for The Sopranos
Pastore was born in the Bronx in 1946 but raised upstate in an Italian neighborhood of New Rochelle, living with his family above the local Foresters club.
‘I can still smell the pizza!’ he fondly remarked a few years ago to Edge magazine. ‘Roller skating every Friday night at the Boys Club. Great memories.’
Although he came across ‘bookies and loan sharks’ as a child and acknowledged that many fans ‘think I grew up with’ the ‘kinds’ of insalubrious characters he later played, he insisted he ‘grew up in a pure Italian-American home. Tradition.’
After serving in the US Navy in the Vietnam War, he began opening bars and clubs, including the 1980s New Rochelle nightspot the Crazy Horse.
However he had long nurtured dreams of acting, having obtained a drama degree at Pace University, and in the late 1980s he began pursuing them.
A stroke of luck arrived when he was working as a New York City limousine driver and thus became acquainted with Kevin Dillon and his brother Matt Dillon.
‘I told them about my dreams of becoming an actor. They ended up seeing me at this community theater I was doing, and Kevin helped me out. He gave me the direction I needed to finally act,’ Pastore remembered.
After jobbing around with small roles in mob movies like GoodFellas and Carlito’s Way, Pastore landed a major supporting role in the 1995 crime comedy The Jerky Boys: The Movie as the sidekick of a mob boss played by Alan Arkin.
Pastore was beloved by fans of The Sopranos for his nuanced performance as ‘Big Pu**y,’ who is ultimately revealed to be an FBI informant and shot
By the next year, he had earned his breakthrough part on HBO as the real-life Gambino family capo Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero in Gotti, with Armand Assante in the title role in a cast that also featured Anthony Quinn.
Pastore’s co-stars in that TV film included Tony Sirico, Dominic Chianese and Frank Vincent, all of whom went on to become colleagues of his on The Sopranos.
He later described Gotti as a ‘turning point’ in his career that led to his being recognized in the street and later cast on The Sopranos, via Cryptic Rock.
Big Pu**y was one of Tony Soprano’s best friends, a prized member of the mob boss’s inner circle including Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico), Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and Silvio Dante (Steve Van Zandt).
One of the key plot threads of the first two seasons is Pu**y’s unsuccessful attempt to conceal the fact he has become a mole for the FBI informant.
Pastore drew praise for his portrayal of a ‘rat’ who is wracked with guilt until his betrayal is discovered and he is shot dead by Tony, Silvio and Paulie.
Several years later, Pastore revealed one of his iconic scenes – when Tony furiously searches Pu**y for a wire – was born of an improvisation by Gandolfini.
‘We were scripted on Sopranos, but you don’t know the moment he’s going to come in whether he’s going to be mad at you,’ said Pastore.
Pastore has said portraying his character’s ‘mental turmoil’ over his activities as an FBI informant ‘stayed with me as an actor, over five days a week of taping’
‘In the scene when he was frisking me down in the basement of the house in Episode One, Season Two, he’s really frisking me. I didn’t know he was going to do that.’
Pastore took a dim view of the unflattering remarks that Gandolfini’s colleagues made about him after his death of a heart attack aged 51 in 2013.
In the 2024 documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos, Gandolfini was accused of having had a fiery temperament and drinking so heavily that the head of HBO tried to persuade him to go to rehab, only for him to retort: ‘Fire me!’
His commitment to method acting was said to have been so intense he would stay awake for days on end and get himself ‘angry’ by keeping rocks in his shoes.
The Sopranos creator David Chase alleged that Gandolfini ‘had to go places that were destructive to him, and painful for him’ for the role.
Pastore, on the other hand, said: ‘People talk bad about Jimmy. I saw it in that documentary. I didn’t dig it, man. Jimmy was tired. He was carrying the weight for seven years. Without Jimmy, there would have been no Sopranos. I’m sorry.’
In another interview, Pastore remarked that portraying his own character’s ‘mental turmoil’ over his activities as an FBI informant ‘stayed with me as an actor, over five days a week of taping. It was rather tough.’
He explained: ‘I saw Big Pussy as a man with a big heart, and that was my choice of how I played that role. In that scene where he is crying in the bathroom at Anthony Jr.’s confirmation, you knew it was not just because he was a rat – he was betraying his friends, which was even harder to deal with.’
Pastore is pictured with his The Sopranos co-stars Jamie-Lynn Sigler (left) and Drea de Matteo (right) at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2019
After The Sopranos, Pastore featured on a string of reality shows including Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Family Feud, Celebrity Apprentice and Shark Tank, and his attempts at weight loss were documented on Celebrity Fit Club.
On scripted TV, he guested on such programs as General Hospital, Mad TV, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0 and, as recently as last year, Yellowjackets.
Pastore held a voice role in the hit animated movie Shark Tale, starring Will Smith and Renee Zellweger, and also acted in the 1999 Hugh Grant comedy Mickey Blue Eyes.
He also enjoyed a long stage career, which has Broadway has included being one of the actors to play the dopey Amos Hart in the still-running 1990s revival of Chicago.
Pastore was also cast alongside Zach Braff in the original Broadway cast of the 2014 musical adaptation of Woody Allen’s 1994 comedy Bullets over Broadway.
While working on Bullets over Broadway, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and earned plaudits for his show-must-go-on work ethic by refusing to miss any rehearsals or performances while undergoing his ultimately successful treatment.
He later began his own small theater company, through which he was able to work with a fleet of The Sopranos alumni including Maureen Van Zandt, Nicholas Giangiulio, Joe Lisi, Garry Pastore, Tony Rossi, Anthony Ribustello and Janet Sarno.
‘I try to produce three plays a year. It really enables people to see the actors work,’ Pastore remarked four years into the venture. ‘I don’t make a lot of money because I own the theater company, but we’ve had a pretty good run.’
Former castmates mourned the loss of Pastore, with Edie Falco telling Page Six in a statement that his death was both an ‘awful loss’ and ‘unexpected’; Falco seen in 2024 in NYC
Michael Imperioli shared a throwback photo to Instagram as both he and Pastore paused for a photo together; seen in 2004 in NYC
Pastore is survived by his 55-year-old daughter daughter Renee, whom he shared with his amicable ex-wife Nancy Berke.
Former castmates mourned the loss of Pastore, with Edie Falco telling Page Six in a statement that his death was both an ‘awful loss’ and ‘unexpected.’
The star, who had portrayed the character of Carmela Soprano on the hit series, continued, ‘Vinnie was always so full of life.’
Michael Imperioli shared a throwback photo to Instagram as both he and Pastore paused for a photo together.
The actor, who played Christopher Moltisanti on the series, wrote: ‘Our beloved friend and collaborator VINCENT PASTORE has passed away.
‘This is a hard one for us, it seems like I’ve known Vinny forever. We did lots of work together and traveled all of the USA as well as Italy and Australia. Lots of good times.’
He concluded, ‘Lots of laughs. Vinny was a kind hearted brother who cared deeply about his family and friends. I will miss him always.’
‘This is a hard one for us, it seems like I’ve known Vinny forever. We did lots of work together and traveled all of the USA as well as Italy and Australia. Lots of good times,’ he wrote
Lorraine Bracco, who had portrayed Jennifer Melfi, uploaded a black and white photo of the late actor to her Instagram stories on Saturday
Dominic Chianese had played Corrado ‘Junior’ Soprano on the series and also took to his Instagram account to pay tribute; seen in 1999 in NYC
‘We lost a friend today. Paying respect and sending Love in tribute. You were a gem Vinnie,’ the actor wrote
Lorraine Bracco, who had portrayed Jennifer Melfi, uploaded a black and white photo of the late actor to her Instagram stories on Saturday.
‘Such a funny & charming man…just a beautiful soul. Absolutely heartbreaking,’ the actress penned.
Dominic Chianese had played Corrado ‘Junior’ Soprano on the series and also took to his Instagram account to pay tribute.
‘We lost a friend today. Paying respect and sending Love in tribute. You were a gem Vinnie,’ the actor wrote.
Robert Attermann, who had been Pastore’s manager for over 30 years, also shared an emotional statement to Page Six.
He said that Pastore had been ‘so much more’ than his character on The Sopranos.
Robert Attermann, who had been Pastore’s manager for over 30 years, also shared an emotional statement to Page Six; Pastore seen in 2005 in NYC
The late star had been ‘one of the kindest, most generous people [he’d] ever known’ who also ‘treated everyone with warmth and respect, never turning down a fan who wanted a photograph or an autograph.’
Pastore was passionate about his acting career and would ‘offer guidance and support’ to other young actors.
Attermann added that the star will be remembered for his ‘remarkable career but also the incredible person he was.’
Pastore ‘leaves behind a legacy that extends far beyond his memorable performances,’ his longtime manager continued, before noting that the actor will be ‘never forgotten.’
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