(1993), Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, Carlito’s Way (1993) Opposite Al Pacino, and the Jerky Boys: the Movie (1995)

Vincent Pastore, the veteran character actor who brought Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero to life on The Sopranos, has died at 80. His friend Steve Villano confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Pastore died in his sleep at his Bronx, New York, home on Saturday. Pastore, who said he was the son of a real-life wiseguy, broke into films in the late 1980s, playing mob heavy in such movies as Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), New Jack City (1991), Who’s the Man? (1993), Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, Carlito’s Way (1993) opposite Al Pacino, and The Jerky Boys: The Movie (1995).

He also appeared multiple times on Law & Order as a mobbed-up character. In 1996 he played a Gambino crime family mobster in the HBO biopic Gotti, which also featured future Sopranos castmates Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent, and Dominic Chianese. That role led to his breakout turn as Big Pussy.

Over the show’s first two seasons, Big Pussy went from Tony Soprano’s trusted right-hand man to an FBI informant, before being gunned down on a boat and dumped at sea in the Season 2 finale. The fan favorite later returned in Tony’s dreams.