Another actor from the legendary film of Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas has left the world, Paul Sorvino. Paul Sorvino played the character of Paulie Cicero in the movie and has since etched his place among the classics section of cinema with his brilliant performance. In addition to Goodfellas, Paul also appeared in many other classics and popular names in cinema and TV including, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Oliver Stone’s Nixon, Disney’s The Rocketeer, Dick Tracy as well as playing the role of Sergeant Phil Cerreta in Law & Order.
Paul’s death was caused by his Type 2 diabetes which he had been struggling with for quite a while now. His wife, Dee Dee Sorvino announced his death on Twitter. Her Tweet read as follows:
“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.”
Paul has 3 children Michael, Mira, and Amanda among whom Mira is the one who seemed to have inherited the most of Paul’s talent as she is an Academy Award-winning actress.
Mira expressed her grief on Twitter as well. Her Tweet read as follows:
“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed. My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”
It was later revealed that Paul initially was reluctant to take the role he was offered in Goodfellas being unsure whether he could pull off such an aggressive character which was actually based on real-life Lucchese crime family boss Paul Vario. Sorvino eventually found his way into the character which ended up making him one of the biggest names in the industry.
Advertisement
In addition to being an accomplished actor, Paul was also an Opera singer and a Bronze sculptor. Paul took Opera lessons for almost 2 decades and his sculpting work earned many high-profile orders.