American actor Paul Sorvino, best known for his role in the gangster film “Goodfellas” and father of actress Mira Cervino, died on Monday at the age of 83, his entourage announced.
“I’m overwhelmed. The love of my life and the greatest man ever born is gone. I am heartbroken,” his widow Dee Dee Servino wrote on her Facebook page.
Born in April 1939 in New York, Paul Sorvino is best known for his role as Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, released in 1990 alongside Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta.
The following year, he played a cop in the TV series “New York, Judicial Police”.
In 1995, he played the role of Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon”.
“My father, the great Paul Sorvino has passed away,” tweeted his daughter Mira Sorvino, who won an Oscar in 1996 for Woody Allen’s Cursed Aphrodite.
“My heart is torn, a life of love and joy and wisdom at his side has come to an end,” she laments.
Paul Sorvino played supporting roles in cinema or television series, but was a versatile artist, especially gifted for sculpture or opera.
“Most people think I’m a gangster or a cop or something, but actually I’m a sculptor, a painter, a writer (…), but obviously I have a talent for playing these kinds of roles”, he told the Orlando Weekly in 2014. He announced in an interview.
“Pop culture practitioner. Award-winning tv junkie. Creator. Devoted food geek. Twitter lover. Beer enthusiast.”