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Vincent Pastore, Who Played 'Big Pussy' on 'The Sopranos', Dies at 80
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Vincent Pastore, who is best known for playing Salvatore "Big Pussy"
Bonpensiero on HBO's "The Sopranos," has died, according to TMZ. He
was 80.
Pastore was a key player on the first two seasons of "The Sopranos,"
and helped deliver one of the mob drama's most iconic moments. In the
show, Big Pussy was part of Tony Soprano's (James Galdofini) most
trusted inner circle, until he started wearing a wire for the FBI. In
the Season 2 finale, Tony, along with Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) and
Paulie (Tony Sirico), makes the difficult decision to kill him off
while out on a boat.
Pastore was cast as a mobster many times throughout his career. He
had small parts in early '90s crime dramas like "Carlito's Way" and
"Goodfellas." He saw his stock rise with a pair of roles in the 1995
film "The Jerky Boys: The Movie" and HBO's 1996 TV movie "Gotti."
His other film credits include "Shark Tale," "Mickey Blue Eyes,"
"Witness to the Mob," "The Deli," "Spinning Gold," "Once Upon a Time
in Brooklyn," "Revolver," "This Thing of Ours," "Bachelor Party Vegas,"
"A Brooklyn State of Mind" and many others.
On the TV side, Pastore appeared on "New York Undercover," "Law &
Order," "Bull," "Son of the Beach," "Queens Supreme," "General
Hospital" and "Pair of Kings." He was also a contestant on several
reality shows, including "Dancing With the Stars," "Shark Tank" and
"Celebrity Family Feud."
Pastore also hosted "The Wise Guy" show on SiriusXM, which was a weekly
three-hour broadcast during which Pastore would interview celebrities
and other prominent figures from the Italian-American community.
Pastore is survived by his daughter, Renee.
<https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/vincent-pastore-dead-big-pussy-the-sopranos-hbo-1236825791/>
Vincent Pastore, the actor best known for his role as Salvatore rCLBig PussyrCY Bonpensiero on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos, was
confirmed dead on August 1 at the age of 80. Between 1995 and 2004, Pastore played multiple small roles on One Life to Live, and in 2008, he had a
short but memorable run on General Hospital.
How Vincent Pastore Was Cast on GH
On GH, Pastore appeared as Maximus, the mobster father of Max (Derk
Cheetwood) and Milo (Drew Cheetwood), Sonny CorinthosrCO (Maurice Benard) trusted bodyguards.
In a 2009 interview with Soaps in Depth, Pastore recalled that he landed
the gig after SOAPnet rCo the defunct, soap-centered cable channel rCo featured him as a famous General Hospital fan in a promotional campaign. The actor,
who was an avid watcher of the show while working in bars and nightclubs in
New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, told producers he wanted a shot at appearing in Port Charles.
rCLI told them, rCyIrCOd love to be on the show,rCOrCY he explained. rCLSo they called
up GHrCOs casting director [Mark Teschner] and Bobby [Robert Guza Jr., the
head writer at the time], and they wrote me in!rCY
How Maximus Fit Into GHrCOs Mob Story
On screen, Maximus came to Port Charles from Italy for a short visit, and
Max and Milo asked everyone in SonnyrCOs orbit to play along with a cover story: they wanted Maximus to believe Max was the boss during the trip. SonnyrCOs enforcer, Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), reluctantly agreed to help sell the ruse.
The story played against the mob stakes of the time: Sonny was focused on Russian mobster Andrei Karpov (Ilia Volok) after Kate Howard (Megan Ward)
was shot during her would-be wedding to Sonny.
Maximus ultimately made it clear he wasnrCOt fooled. Before heading back to Palermo, he offered Sonny advice about dealing with Karpov, admitted he
knew Max worked for Sonny, and asked Sonny to keep Max and Milo safe rCo without letting them know herCOd clocked their lie.
Vincent Pastore on Working at General Hospital
Pastore told SID that the pace of daytime production was its own challenge.
rCLWorking on a soap is probably the hardest work that an actor can endure. ItrCOs like doing a play every day without having rehearsals. And GH is even tougher than other soaps,rCY he said. rCLYou have to discipline yourself and say, rCyOkay, IrCOve gotta learn all these lines and hit my mark by tomorrow morning at 7:30rCarCOrCY
But he did have a minor quibble with GHrCOs mob scene.
rCLI think they need more New York actors to get the accent down,rCY he said. rCLIrCOm the guy from New York and IrCOm talking to a bunch of California actors
and theyrCOre playing wise guys. Sometimes it donrCOt work.rCY
In the interview, Pastore said working at General Hospital rCLmakes you
realize why itrCOs such a great profession to be in, why these guys are so
good and why [some] people fail.rCY
He singled out scenes with Maurice Benard as a highlight. rCLDespite having
to stretch my acting muscles, the opportunity to share scenes with my
favorite character, Sonny Corinthos, was worth the effort,rCY Pastore said, adding, rCLIt was close to working with [The SopranosrCO] Jimmy Gandolfini. Maurice Benard is a fine actor.rCY
https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/the-inside-story-of-late-sopranos-star-vincent-pastores-general-hospital-connection/
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