Paul Sorvino, famous Paul Cicero in Goodfellas, has died

American actor Paul Sorvino, known for his role as Paul Cicero in the film Goodfellas, died Monday at the age of 83, the Associated Press and the New York Times reported.

 

The actor died Monday morning (local time) of natural causes in a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, said his agent Roger Neal to AP. The octogenarian had experienced health problems in recent years. Paul Sorvino was also famous for having played in the television series New York, Criminal Justice.

 

For more than 50 years, he played roles as varied as an Italian-American communist in Warren Beatty's Reds, Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon and mob boss Eddie Valentine in The Adventures of Rocketeer. He often said that while he was best known for playing gangsters, his real passions were poetry, painting and opera. 

 

His daughter Mira Sorvino, also an actress and who was crowned in 1995 with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Woody Allen's Cursed Aphrodite, paid tribute to him on Twitter. My father, the great Paul Sorvino, has passed away. My heart is torn - a lifetime of love, joy and wisdom in his presence is over. He was the most wonderful father, she wrote.