‘Goodfellas’ star Paul Sorvino dies two month after co-star Ray Liotta

Paul Sorvino, who starred in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and early seasons of the NBC series Law & Order, died Monday of natural causes after suffering health issues over the past few years. He was 83.

His death was announced by his publicist Roger Neal on behalf of Sorvino’s wife Dee Dee Sorvino, who was at his side when he passed.

Sorvino was born in Brooklyn and started his career as an advertising copywriter in an ad agency while attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy before making his Broadway debut in the 1964.

He made a career out of taking on burly character roles in several films throughout the decades. But Sorvino might be best remembered for starring as ‘Big Pauly’ in Martin Scorsese’s film Goodfellas.

In 1991, he began a 31-episode stint on NBC’s Law & Order.

In his over 50 years in the entertainment business, Sorvino was a mainstay in films and television.

In an April 2014 interview, Sorvino said, “Most people think I’m either a gangster or a cop or something, but the reality is I’m a sculptor, a painter, a best-selling author, many, many things—a poet, an opera singer, but none of them is gangster, but, you know, obviously I sort of have a knack for playing these things.”

Sorvino founded the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation, and with wife Dee Dee co-authored the book Pinot, Pasta, and Parties.