Vincent Pastore, best known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
The star was reportedly found dead Saturday in his Bronx, New York home by a neighbor after he had not been seen or heard from in the past three days.
An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of his death, Deadline reported.
The Independent has contacted the NYPD for comment.
In a statement to The Independent, Pastore’s agent, Bob McGowen, said he found out about Pastore’s death Saturday morning.
Remembering him as “such a great guy” who would help anyone, McGowen added: “I am just so sad of this passing. It’s hard to believe. I just spoke to him a couple days ago.”
Pastore was born July 14, 1946, in the Bronx to an Italian-American family. After graduating from New Rochelle High School in 1964, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.
Following three years of service, Pastore studied drama at Pace University. He ultimately left after three years, due to difficulty finding acting jobs, instead turning to the nightclub business. He went on to own the now-defunct rock club and bar Crazy Horse in New Rochelle.
During a night out with actor brothers Matt and Kevin Dillon, who were regulars of Crazy Horse, The Pope of Greenwich Village was playing on the TV.
“Matty said, ‘You could do the work that these guys are doing,’ pointing to [future Sopranos co-star] Frank Vincent and Tony Musante,” Pastore remembered, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He eventually made his professional acting debut in Nancy Savoca’s True Love (1989), starring Annabella Sciorra and Ron Eldard. It was his performance in the romcom that led casting director Ellen Lewis to hire him for a small, uncredited part in Martin Scorsese’s classic Goodfellas.
That same year, he also appeared in Penny Marshall’s Robin Williams and Robert De Niro-led melodrama Awakenings.
Pastore made a successful career out of playing Italian-American gangsters in TV and movies. He starred in the 1996 biographical drama Gotti, about infamous mob boss John Gotti, alongside future Sopranos co-stars Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent and Dominic Chianese.
In 1999, he landed his breakout role as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in the six-season Emmy-winning HBO crime drama, The Sopranos. He starred as a series regular on the first two seasons before his character was killed off at the end of season two. He returned for occasional appearances in flashbacks and dream sequences in later seasons.
His other notable acting credits included The Jerky Boys: The Movie (1995), DreamWorks’ Shark Tale (2004) and Revolver (2005). His last role was voicing a talking llama in 2025 episode of the horror series Yellowjackets.
Pastore is survived by his daughter, Renee.
