Paul Sorvino, an American theater and cinema star associated with titles that have made history from Goodfellas to Law & Order, died today of natural causes. The actor was 83 years old. His wife, DeeDee Sorvino, posted the news on Instagram and said: “I’m absolutely devastated. The love of my life and the most wonderful man I have ever lived are gone. I am devastated.”
Sorvino, the father of actress Mira Sorvino, was known to the general public for playing the role of sergeant Frank Cerreta in the NBC television series Law & Order, but also for playing the role of gangster Don Paul Cicero in the classic gangster film directed by Martin Scorsese ” Goodfellas”. He also played Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s Nixon.
In a career spanning more than 55 years, Sorvino has appeared in over 170 productions for film, television and Broadway.
Born on April 13, 1939 in New York to Ford Sorvino, a native of Naples, and Angela Renzi, a native of Casacalenda in the province of Campobasso, Paul Sorvino studied opera singing at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Unable to achieve his dream, he devoted himself to acting as an asthmatic and got his acting degree. In 1964 he made his Broadway debut in the musical Bajour and in 1971 he starred opposite Al Pacino in the film Panic in Needle Park before returning to Broadway where he had great success with That Championship Season.
He has appeared in many films since the 1970s, including Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) and Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990). In the 1991/92 season he played Sergeant Phil Cerreta in the television series Law & Order, a role which brought him international visibility. In 1993 he starred as a fellow attorney in the first television film after the death of Raymond Burr in the Perry Mason series. In 1995 he played Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s The Intrigue of Nixon, while we see him on screens in as many films in the years that followed.
In 2004 he received an award from the Tremaglia Foundation in Rome. During the ceremony a duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli. In 2006 he took part in the TV show Non Let’s Panic by Gianni Morandi on Rai 1. His latest interpretations include that in the western miniseries Doc West (2009), in which he collaborates with Terence Hill. In the same year he played Beniamino in the television series Honor and Respect, broadcast on Canale 5. In 2008 he was awarded the “Arturo Esposito von Sorrentine Peninsula” prize at the Great Events of the Campania Region.