In 1973, he was George Segal’s movie-producer friend in “A Touch of Class” and a mysterious government agent in “The Day of the Dolphin.” He appeared next as a New Yorker robbed by a prostitute in “The Panic in Needle Park” (1972) but did not fall victim to the cops-and-gangsters stereotype right away. Bologna, wore old-age makeup for the role. Sorvino, almost five years younger than Mr. The film role that first won him major attention was as Joseph Bologna’s grouchy Italian American father in “ Made for Each Other” (1971). Then “That Championship Season” came along, starting with the Off Broadway production at the Public Theater. He made his film debut in “ Where’s Poppa?” (1970), a dark comedy directed by Carl Reiner, in a small role as a retirement-home owner. After his first child, Mira, was born, he wrote advertising copy for nine months, but the office job gave him an ulcer. Sorvino worked as a waiter and a bartender, sold cars, taught acting to children and appeared in commercials for deodorant and tomato sauce. Sorvino’s Broadway debut, in the chorus of the musical “Bajour” (1964), lasted almost seven months, but his next show, the comedy “Mating Dance” (1965), starring Van Johnson, closed on opening night. That same year, he began studying drama at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.Īcting jobs were elusive. In 1963, he received his Actors Equity card as a chorus member in “South Pacific” and “The Student Prince” at the Theater at Westbury on Long Island. In the late 1950s, he began performing at Catskills resorts and charity events. His original career dream was to sing - he idolized the Italian American tenor and actor Mario Lanza - and he began taking voice lessons when he was 8 years old or so. Paul grew up in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and attended Lafayette High School. Sorvino, a robe-factory foreman, was born in Naples, Italy, and emigrated to New York with his parents in 1907. Paul Anthony Sorvino was born on April 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, the youngest of three sons of Fortunato Sorvino, known as Ford, and Marietta (Renzi) Sorvino, a homemaker and piano teacher. An Operatic Soul: “Singing allows me to be me,” Sorvino told The Times ahead of his New York City Opera debut in 2006.Remembering ‘Goodfellas’ : In 2015, we asked the cast to reflect on the film’s production 25 years later.His Signature Role: Sorvino was a voluble guy who liked playing voluble guys, but he excelled as a brick of a mobster in “Goodfellas,” our critic writes.Obituary : A would-be opera singer, Paul Sorvino found success in Hollywood playing quiet but dangerous men.Paul Sorvino (1939-2022) The tough-guy actor, who was best known for his role as the mobster Paulie Cicero in “Goodfellas,” died at 83.

Second life of a gangster