https://deadline.com/2026/08/vincent-pastore-dead-the-sopranos-star-big-pussy-1237015282/Vincent Pastore, known for playing mobsters in film and TV, most notably Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on HBO’s The Sopranos, has died. He was 80. The veteran actor was found dead in his Bronx residence today, Aug. 1, by a neighbor after he had not been heard from for the past three days, Deadline has learned. The cause of death is being determined.
Born in the Bronx on July 14, 1946, Pastore fought in the Vietnam war before graduating from Pace University with a degree in drama. While working as a limo driver, he met Matt and Kevin Dillon who went to see him in a community play he was doing, and The Entourage star Kevin helped him get his first break.
After minor parts in early 1990s movies such as Goodfellas, Carlito’s Way and Men of Respect, Pastore rose to prominence with his roles in the 1995 feature The Jerky Boys: The Movie and the 1996 HBO TV movie Gotti, in which he appeared alongside future Sopranos co-stars Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent, and Dominic Chianese.
It was David Chase’s 1999 drama The Sopranos that gave Pastore his signature role, Big Pussy, Tony Soprano’s (James Gandolfini) longtime best friend and mob enforcer turned FBI Informant whose murder became one of the Emmy-winning series’ most memorable scenes.
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