Sopranos star Vincent Pastore found dead at home by neighbour

Sopranos star Vincent Pastore found dead at home by neighbour The actor, who was 80, appeared in many mafia films and was a long-running character in TV's The Sopranos. The Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore, has died in New York. The actor, who was 80, was found dead in his apartment in The Bronx by a neighbour on Saturday after not being heard from for three days. Pastore played Soprano crew associate and mob boss Tony Soprano's close friend Salvatore 'Big P****' Bonpensiero in the HBO drama - which is often considered the greatest TV show ever made. The long-running role came to an abrupt end when the character was murdered for being an FBI informant in one of the programme's most memorable scenes. The actor's manager Bob McGowan paid tribute to him today, saying simply: “Vinnie was a great guy, he would help anyone and was very charitable.” He said he'd been trying to reach him about a possible job. McGowan added: "He was the most loyal client and he always gave to charity. He was the kind of guy who would help anybody, which is rare in my business." The actor, who fought in the Vietnam War before taking up performing, was a regular in mafia movies, appearing in Goodfellas, Men of Respect, Carlito's Way and the TV movie Gotti. Throughout his career, he appeared in nearly 200 films and television programmes and most recently had a small role in the 2025 third series of TV drama Yellowjackets. He also appeared, alongside many of the actors who would go on to appear in The Sopranos, in Hugh Grant comedy Micky Blue Eyes, about an English auctioneer who gets engaged to the daughter of a New York mob boss. The star also played Zach, a loan shark, in the Guy Ritchie film Revolver and priest Father Aldo in the James Franco and Matt Dillon movie Deuces Wild. Pastore's Sopranos character Bonpensiero was a mob veteran who had worked in the Soprano crime syndicate with Tony's dad, alongside Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri and Silvio Dante. Pastore had a later career appearing on some of the best known US reality show including Celebrity Apprentice, Dancing With the Stars and Celebrity Fit Club, on which he lost more than two stone. He is survived by his daughter Renee. Many of the main Sopranos cast are dead, including Tony actor James Gandolfini, who passed away in 2013 aged 51. Frank Vincent, who was Tony's mafia rival Phil Leotardo, died in 2017 aged 80. Paulie actor Genaro Sirico followed in 2022, aged 79.