Vincent Pastore, the character actor best known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in the hit TV series The Sopranos, has died at the age of 80. His portrayal of the mob capo made him a standout in the acclaimed crime drama.
A Career of Tough Guys with Heart
Pastore specialized in Italian mobster roles, but he brought a sensitive touch to his characters. In a recent interview, he noted that The Sopranos creator David Chase wrote the part “for an actor who could play a tough guy but also could be sensitive. I saw Big Pussy as a man with a big heart.”
On screen, Pastore’s Pussy balanced the violent intensity of Tony Sirico’s Paulie Walnuts. “It was like sharing the camera with an elephant,” Pastore joked about the much smaller but intense actor.
Memorable Exit in The Sopranos
One of The Sopranos’ most touching moments centered on Pussy’s demise in the season two finale. Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, realizes in a fever dream that Pussy has been informing on the family. In the surreal scene, Pussy speaks to Tony as an eight-pound fish selling for four dollars a pound, confessing and pointing out that the fish next to him are “sleeping.” Tony, agonized, replies, “Don’t even say that,” as he understands he must have Pussy killed. The episode ends with Tony and two others, including a vengeful Paulie, shooting Pussy on Tony’s boat and tossing his body overboard.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born in the Bronx, Pastore grew up in what he described as a “true Italian” neighborhood in New Rochelle, New York, where his father John was a school caretaker and his mother Natalie cooked part-time for the Italian men’s social club above which they lived. It was not a mob setting. “We saw bookies and loan sharks, but to play these parts you don’t rely on memories,” he said. “You use your own personality.”
After high school, during the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the US Navy, then studied drama at Pace University’s Westchester campus. He worked as a nightclub bouncer and limo driver, eventually buying his own club in New Rochelle. His first break came when he drove actors Matt and Kevin Dillon, also from Westchester. Impressed by his local theatre work, they encouraged him, and Danny Aiello became his mentor.
Film and TV Roles
Pastore made his film debut in the 1988 Canadian horror movie Black Roses. Over the next decade, he appeared in 15 films, often in small crime-related parts, including an uncredited role in Sidney Lumet’s Q&A. His billing reflected the nature of his roles: “Man With Coat-rack” in Goodfellas, “Fat Tony” in Backstreet Dreams, “Tony Clams” in Who’s the Man, and “Copa Wiseguy” in Carlito’s Way.
His TV debut came in 1990 on the short-lived emergency services show H.E.L.P. He also played in four episodes of Law and Order, like many New York actors. His breakthrough came in the comedy crime film The Jerky Boys (1995) as Tony Scarboni, and in 1996 he played Angelo Ruggerio in the HBO film Gotti, opposite Armand Assante.
Later Career and Reality TV
After The Sopranos, Pastore appeared in films like Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and made his Broadway debut in Chicago in 2007. He also joined the cast of General Hospital. He participated in reality shows, including Celebrity Fit Club, where he lost 13kg, and Celebrity Apprentice, where he feuded with Piers Morgan. He withdrew from Dancing With the Stars after a week.
He continued acting into the 2020s, with roles in Hawaii 5-0, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Gravesend, and a leading role in the 2022 film The Black Caesar. He started a theatre company in 2021 and starred in a revival of Lamp Post Reunion. A new film, Bad News on the Doorstep, remains unreleased.
Pastore lived alone in City Island in the Bronx. His marriage to Nancy Berke ended in divorce; he is survived by their daughter, Renee.
