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People Are Honoring The Late, Great Paul Sorvino, The Imposing Sweetheart Of ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Law And Order,’ And More

Paul Sorvino Goodfellas
Warner Bros.

Paul Sorvino was perhaps best known for playing Paulie Cicero, the imposing capo from Goodfellas, the mafioso higher-up who, as Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill puts it, “may have moved slow, but it was only because Paulie didn’t have to move for anybody.” Paulie never murders anyone, at least onscreen, and he’s known to help people who know they can’t turn to the police. But he’s still a terrifying figure, the guy whose bad side you never want to be on, the guy who will break your heart when he knows he has to turn his back on you.

The real Paul Sorvino, though, was a softie. A veteran of screen and stage, a guy who loved singing opera, a guy who loved his family, including his Oscar-winning daughter Mira. When he passed on Monday, aged 83, of natural causes, the tributes poured in. Mira penned a moving ode.

“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed. My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over,” she wrote. “He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”

His wife Dee Dee, whom he married in 2014, called him the “love of my life,” writing that “the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone.”

Others shared moments from his life and career. One clip shared by many was when Mira won her Academy Award for Mighty Aphrodite in 1996, turning him into a puddle of tears.

Still, you wouldn’t want to get on Sorvino’s bad side either. In 2017, after Mira revealed that she was one of the women Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed, her father did not hold back, threatening to beat him if the law didn’t throw him in jail.

People also celebrated his work. Goodfellas came up a lot, including the memorable (and educational!) way he patiently slices garlic with a razor blade.

As did his other work, spanning seven decades, including incredible work in Nixon (in which he played Henry Kissinger), Romeo + Juliet, The Gambler, Reds, Cruising, The Rocketeer, as well as Shakespeare in the Park.

Sorvino was also honored by those who worked with him.

Sorvino’s passing comes a mere two months after that of another Goodfellas actor, Ray Liotta. Pour one out for a real one.