Paul Sorvino, who was popular for his screen performances including “Goodfellas” and “Law & Order,” died Monday of natural causes at the age of 83.
His wife, DeeDee Sorvino, posted on Instagram, saying “I am completely devastated The love of my life & the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone. I am heartbroken.”
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Sorvino was not only an actor but also an opera singer, businessman, writer, and sculptor. He took on supporting roles in A Touch of Class, Reds, The Rocketeer, Nixon, and Romeo + Juliet. He was the father of actors Mira Sorvino and Michael Sorvino.
Sorvino was born and raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York City. His mother, Angela Maria Mattea was a homemaker and piano teacher who was born in Connecticut of Italian (Molisan) descent. His father, Ford Sorvino, was an Italian (Neapolitan) immigrant who worked in a robe factory as a foreman.
He attended Lafayette High School, where he was classmates with painter Peter Max, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Sorvino worked with more than 170 credits and dozens of roles in recent years including guest appearances in “Godfather of Harlem,” “Bad Blood,” “Undercover Grandpa,” “The Goldbergs” and “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.”
He started his career as a copywriter in an advertising agency, where he worked with John Margeotes, founder of Margeotes, Fertitta, and Weiss.
While attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, he decided to go into the theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the 1964 musical Bajour, and six years later he appeared in his first film, Carl Reiner’s Where’s Poppa? starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon.
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In 1971, he played a supporting role in Jerry Schatzberg’s critically acclaimed The Panic in Needle Park starring Al Pacino and Kitty Winn.
Sorvino had three children, Mira, Michael, and Amanda, from his first marriage with Lorraine Davis.
Mira Sorvino is an Academy Award winner and his son Michael Sorvino is an actor and graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.