Vincent Pastore, the Bronx-born actor whose 30-episode run as Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on The Sopranos made him one of the most recognized faces in prestige television's first great era, died Saturday at his home in the City Island section of the Bronx. He was 80.
He had not been heard from for several days before a neighbor found him. No cause of death was immediately announced. There is no indication of foul play.
Pastore came to acting late, working as a limo driver while doing community theater in New Rochelle, where he grew up after being born in the Bronx in 1946.
Kevin Dillon saw him in a play and helped him get his first break. Roles in Goodfellas, Carlito's Way and The Jerky Boys followed. Then David Chase called.
Big Pussy was Tony Soprano's oldest friend, a mob enforcer who, when the audience and Tony eventually discovered he had been secretly cooperating with the FBI, was shot and dumped at sea in one of the series' most devastating scenes.
Pastore played him as genuinely lovable, which made the betrayal hurt and the death land. He appeared in 30 episodes across the show's first two seasons. He and his castmates won the SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2000.
His manager Bob McGowan had been trying to reach him about a possible new job when he learned of his death. "He was the most loyal client and he always gave to charity," McGowan said. "He was the kind of guy who would help anybody."