Actor Paul Sorvino, who was known for his roles in “Goodfellas” and “Law & Order,” died on Monday morning at 83 years old.
His publicist, Roger Neal, said that he died of natural causes in Indiana.
Sorvino’s wife, Dee Dee Sorvino, said in a statement: “Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage.”
In his five decades in the entertainment industry, Sorvino, who often played physically imposing figures due to his size, starred in the 1981 movie “That Championship Season” with Robert Mitchum and Martin Sheen and as “Paul Cicero” in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 crime classic “Goodfellas.”
In a 2015 interview with The New York Times, Sorvino revealed that he nearly backed out of playing in “Goodfellas” because he was scared of the role.
“I was overjoyed but very worried. I’d done a lot of comedies as well as dramas, but I’d never done a really tough guy. I never had it in me,” he said. “And this [part] called for a lethality, which I felt was way beyond me. I called my manager three days before we started shooting and said, ‘Get me out. I’m going to ruin this great man’s picture, and I’m going to ruin myself.’ He, being wise, said, ‘Call me tomorrow, and if necessary I will get you out.’”
“Then I was going by the hall mirror to adjust my tie. I was just inconsolable. And I looked in the mirror and literally jumped back a foot. I saw a look I’d never seen, something in my eyes that alarmed me. A deadly soulless look in my eyes that scared me and was overwhelmingly threatening. And I looked to the heavens and said, ‘You’ve found it.’”
Another star from the movie, Ray Liotta, passed away two months ago at 67 years old. Liotta reportedly passed away in his sleep while shooting a new film, “Dangerous Waters,” in the Dominican Republic.
“My life these past couple of years have been nothing but truly magical,” Ray Liotta’s fiancée, Jacy Nittolo, said after his passing. “Ray and I share a deep love that I will cherish in my heart forever. We laughed daily and we were inseparable.”
“The chemistry was wild in the best way,” she continued. “He was everything in the world to me and we couldn’t get enough of each other. The kind of real love that one dreams of.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.