New York Times
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Vincent Pastore, a character actor who specialised in playing Italian American tough guys, has died at his home in the Bronx, New York. He was 80.
Pastore was best known for the foot soldier turned FBI informant Salvatore Bonpensiero, known to his friends as Big Pussy, on the classic HBO
series The Sopranos.
His manager, Robert Attermann, said Pastore’s body was discovered by friends on Saturday. Pastore’s manager did not give a cause of death, but authorities said there was no suggestion of foul play.
Tall and sturdily built, Pastore had a substantial career in TV and movies playing mob enforcers, capos and the like before being cast in a major role on The Sopranos, which premiered in 1999.
His character was known as Big Pussy not for any obscene reason but because he had started his career in crime as a cat burglar. His friends added “Big” to distinguish him from another character, Gennaro Malanga, known as Little Pussy.



