Vincent Pastore, 80, known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on HBO’s The Sopranos, was found dead in his Bronx residence on Aug. 1 by a neighbor after he had not been heard from for the past three days.
Pastore, known for playing mobsters in film and TV, most notably Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on HBO’s The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
The veteran actor was found dead in his Bronx residence today, Aug. 1, by a neighbor after he had not been heard from for the past three days. The discovery came on Saturday after days of silence from the Bronx native.
The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated. No cause of death has been made public at this time.
“Vinnie was a great guy, he would help anyone and was very charitable,” Pastore’s longtime manager Bob McGowan said. McGowan’s statement confirmed the news to the public.
Born in the Bronx on July 14, 1946, he fought in the Vietnam war before graduating from Pace University with a degree in drama. After minor parts in early 1990s movies such as Goodfellas, Carlito’s Way and Men of Respect, Pastore rose to prominence with his roles in the 1995 feature The Jerky Boys: The Movie and the 1996 HBO TV movie Gotti, in which he appeared alongside future Sopranos co-stars Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent, and Dominic Chianese.
It was David Chase’s groundbreaking mob drama that changed everything for Pastore.
Pastore played Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in all six seasons of The Sopranos, from 1999 to 2007. His character’s death in the show’s second season became iconic television.
Another one of Pastore’s biggest roles was as the voice of Luca in the animated 2004 movie Shark Tale. Beyond mob roles, he built a diverse career in film and television.
Roles include titles like The Ref, The Basketball Diaries, Joe’s Apartment, Mafia!, Mickey Blue Eyes, Blue Moon, Corky Romano, This Thing of Ours, Deuces Wild, Revolver, Last Request, I’m in Love with a Church Girl, Vault, Bottom of the 9th, The Birthday Cake, and Spinning Gold, among many others, and he most recently was seen in an episode of Yellowjackets in 2025.
During his later career, Pastore appeared on reality television shows.
Pastore was a fixture on reality television with appearances on Celebrity Apprentice, Celebrity Family Feud, Dancing With the Stars, Shark Tank and Celebrity Fit Club, and he also hosted The Wiseguy Show on SiriusXM.
In an interview with the Talking Sopranos podcast, Pastore opened up about leaving the series early.
“It was hard,” he said. “When the third season started to air, I wasn’t even watching it for a while. I tell you the truth: I was devastated that this show became a huge hit. And financially, career-wise, I wasn’t a part of it.”
Pastore spoke candidly about the difficult period after his character’s murder on screen.
He acknowledged that missing the final five seasons and their lucrative opportunities weighed on him. Yet he eventually found peace with his legacy and the role that made him famous.
In the viral moment that made Pastore a household name, Tony Soprano’s longtime best friend Big Pussy is revealed to be an FBI informant in Season 2, Episode 13 in 2000. Tony, along with Paulie Walnuts and Silvio, confronts Big Pussy in a boat and murders him in a scene that became one of television’s most memorable deaths. The shock of killing his closest friend transformed Tony’s character and defined The Sopranos’ dramatic shift toward darker storytelling.
Pastore is survived by his daughter, Renee.