‘The Sopranos’ star Vincent Pastore dies aged 80

Vincent Pastore, the actor best known for playing Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero in The Sopranos, has died, aged 80. He was found dead at his home in The Bronx, New York by a neighbour yesterday (August 1), after his manager had reportedly not heard from him for three days. No cause of death has been confirmed, although initial reports said it was believed to have been from natural causes. “Vinny was a great guy, he would help anyone and was very charitable,” his longtime manager Bob McGowan said. Pastore played Big Pussy, one of Tony Soprano’s oldest friends and most trusted enforcers throughout the first two seasons of David Chase’s landmark HBO series. His character’s eventual betrayal of Tony became one of The Sopranos‘ defining early storylines, with it ultimately being revealed that Big Pussy had been secretly working with the FBI by recording conversations with Tony’s crew. Tony, Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante memorably confronted Pussy while on a boat trip and murdered him, throwing his body into the ocean so he could “sleep with the fishes”. The crime would go on to haunt Tony through flashbacks and hallucinations throughout the remaining seasons. Born in The Bronx on ...