Paul Sorvino

Overview

Born
April 13, 1939 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died
July 25, 2022 · Jacksonville, Florida, USA (natural causes)
Birth name
Paul Anthony Sorvino
Height
6′ 4″ (1.93 m)

Mini bio

Tall, dark and imposing Italian American actor Paul Sorvino made a solid career of portraying authority figures.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York City. His mother, Angela (Renzi), was a piano teacher, of Italian descent. His father, Ford Sorvino, was an Italian immigrant who worked in a robe factory as a foreman. Paul originally had his heart set on a life as an opera singer. He was exposed to dramatic arts while studying at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He furthered his studies with Sanford Meisner and eventually made his film debut in Where's Poppa? (1970).

Sorvino suffered from severe asthma, and worked hard at mastering various breathing techniques to manage the illness. He wrote a best-selling book entitled "How to Become a Former Asthmatic". He also started the Sorvino Asthma Foundation based in New York City.

Sorvino appeared in a variety of film, TV, and theatrical productions over five decades. He received critical praise for his role in the Broadway play "That Championship Season", and played the role again in the 1981 film alongside Robert Mitchum and Martin Sheen. Other noteworthy performances during the 1980s and 1990s included a stressed-out police chief in Cruising (1980), Mike Hammer's cop buddy in I, the Jury (1982), Lips Manlis in Dick Tracy (1990) with James Caan and in a standout performance as mob patriarch Paul Cicero in the powerhouse GoodFellas (1990).

Always keeping himself busy, Sorvino performed over 100 theatrical movies and over 30 TV movies throughout his career, including a dynamic and under-appreciated portrayal of Henry Kissinger in Nixon (1995), as "Fulgencio Capulet" in the updated Romeo + Juliet (1996) and in the Las Vegas thriller The Cooler (2003). At the time of his death in 2022, there were three more films in which he appeared yet to be released, including The Ride (2022) in which he worked alongside his wife Dee Dee Sorvino.

Sorvino was the proud father of Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino.
- IMDb mini biography by: firehouse44

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Deep baritone voice
Reserved yet charming manner
Frequently played gangsters
Frequently played authority figures

Trivia

An enthusiastic opera singer, painter, sculptor and cook.
Father of actress Mira Sorvino, Amanda Sorvino and Michael Sorvino.
In 1993, he founded the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation, with the goal of building asthma centers for children and adults across the United States.
His budding career was threatened when asthma compromised his ability to talk and sing. But the breathing exercises he learned allowed him to breathe normally.
Founded the Dogfellas Dog Adoption organization in February of 2002 with his family. It is based in Manhattan and Pennsylvania.

Quotes

When asked what he thought of GoodFellas (1990) when it first came out in 1990, he said: "I thought it was boring, excessively violent and not a good movie. I thought I was boring, I thought that I had hurt my career, I thought that this movie should not have been made and it's not a good movie". He then said three hours later after thinking more about it, "Do you know, I'm kind of coming through a clearing here and I'm thinking that's not a boring movie, that's a good movie, that's a great movie maybe, and I'm really good in it!"
On why he left Law & Order (1990): "One of the frustrating things about that role
one of the reasons George Dzundza left, I assume, and certainly why I left -
is that there wasn't enough range...It wasn't a large enough vehicle for me to express what it was I want to express as an artist."
[on Scorsese not winning Best Director Oscar] It's an outrage, in my mind. What does the man have to do?