Vincent Pastore, best known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, was found dead in his Bronx residence on Aug. 1 at age 80. A neighbor found him after he had not been heard from for the past three days, and the circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated.
Bob McGowan said, “Vinnie was a great guy, he would help anyone and was very charitable,” a brief tribute that fits the reporting around his death and the long career that made him a recognizable face in film and television. Renee, his daughter, is listed among his survivors.
The Sopranos and Big Pussy
In 1999, David Chase gave Pastore the role that defined his career: Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos. James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano and Pastore’s character shared one of the Emmy-winning series’ most memorable turns, with Big Pussy serving as Tony’s longtime best friend, mob enforcer and FBI Informant.
That role mattered because it turned a working character actor into a fixed part of the show’s identity. For viewers, it was the performance that anchored his name; for the industry, it was the credit that kept him in circulation across film, television and reality TV after the series took hold.
From Bronx to screen
Born in the Bronx on July 14, 1946, Pastore fought in the Vietnam war before graduating from Pace University with a degree in drama. His path into acting moved through the early 1990s, when he had minor parts in Goodfellas, Carlito’s Way and Men of Respect, then widened with The Jerky Boys: The Movie in 1995 and Gotti in 1996.
By the time Gotti paired him with Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent and Dominic Chianese, he had already settled into the screen niche he would keep for years: mobster parts on film and TV. He later built out that profile with credits in Mickey Blue Eyes, Two Family House, Riding in Cars with Boys, Witness to the Mob, Deuces Wild, Mafia!, Serving Sara, This Thing of Ours, Shark Tale, Bachelor Party Vegas, Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn, Money Train, A Brooklyn State of Mind, The Deli, Spinning Gold and Revolver.
McGowan and Renee
Pastore also stayed visible on television beyond The Sopranos, with frequent guest spots on Law & Order, major roles on One Life to Live, The Practice, Son of the Beach, Queens Supreme, Hawaii Five-0, Wu-Tang: An American Saga and The Last Don II, plus a series regular run on Gravesend and a guest appearance on Yellowjackets. During the 2000s, he added Celebrity Apprentice, Celebrity Family Feud, Dancing With the Stars, Shark Tank and Celebrity Fit Club, and he hosted The Wiseguy Show on SiriusXM.
For readers following the story now, the essential point is the sequence: he was found on Aug. 1, he had been out of contact for three days, and investigators are still working through the circumstances. The unanswered question is what caused Vincent Pastore’s death, and that is the piece that will determine whether this becomes a simple death notice or something more complicated.
