Paul Sorvino, the Brooklyn-born actor who played Paulie Cicero in ‘Goodfellas,’ has died

By Joshua Encinias

Paul Anthony Sorvino, famous for his performance as Paul “Paulie” Cicero in director Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and the TV series “Law & Order,” has died at the age of 83.

His wife Dee Dee Sorvino wrote on Instagram: “I am completely devastated. The love of my life & the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone.” He died of natural causes at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, according to his publicist.

Sorvino’s Paulie Cicero was “the boss over everybody in the neighborhood,” said Ray Liotta’s character Henry Hill in “Goodfellas.” Hill picked Cicero to learn the ropes as a surrogate father in the film.

Sorvino is the second cast member of “Goodfellas” to die this year. Liotta, who currently stars posthumously in Apple TV+’s show “Black Bird,” died in May at the age of 68.

Sorvino was born and raised to working class parents in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. His family let him train at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York where he hoped to become an opera singer. But first, Sorvino had to overcome a severe case of asthma. He mastered breathing techniques that eventually cured his asthma. Sorvino was so happy with the results, that he wrote a book about the techniques called, “How to Become a Former Asthmatic” in 1985. He created the Sorvino Asthma Foundation in 1993.

In 2018, his daughter Mira Sorvino claimed ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein stalled her career when she rejected his sexual advances. Paul told TMZ, “He’s gonna go to jail. Good for him if he does, because if not, he has to meet me. I will kill the motherfucker.”

Mira Sorvino won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for her performance as Linda Ash in fellow Brooklynite Woody Allen’s film “Mighty Aphrodite” and dedicated the Oscar to her parents in an emotional tribute. (Tony Sirico, her co-star in the film and another Brooklynite who played a convincing mobster, died at the age of 79 earlier this month.)

Loyal to his hometown, Paul Sorvino attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and was named “King of Brooklyn” at the “Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival” in 1993.

Along with “Goodfellas” (1990), Sorvino starred in “The Panic in Needle Park” (1971), “The Gambler” (1974), “Cruising” (1980), “Dick Tracy” (1990), “The Rocketeer” (1991), “Nixon” (1995), “Romeo + Juliet” (1996), and “Bulworth” (1998).

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.

— Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) July 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/ATRightMovies/status/1551643834135859201

"It was a very good system." Paul Sorvino RIP pic.twitter.com/hIZ5FMB1ia

— Martin Foyle (@martinfoyle) July 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1551638751016673280

Oof, my god this is a hard day for character actors. First David Warner, then Paul Sorvino. We're rapidly losing the generation of character actors who didn't have to look like Disney Channel mascots to have a career

— Clint Worthington (@clintworthing) July 25, 2022

The quiet but dangerous man. Rest easy, Paul Sorvino. pic.twitter.com/Da8sdT02br

— Luke (@MrLukeJohnston) July 25, 2022

As well as his acting work, we should salute Paul Sorvino for starting a dog adoption organisation with his daughter Amanda in 2002 that they called – yes – DogFellas. pic.twitter.com/g3almKmg1E

— Nick de Semlyen (@NickdeSemlyen) July 25, 2022