# Paul Sorvino RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [July 25, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550 "2022-07-25T19:54:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/1 "2022-07-25T19:54:50Z")
Not long after Ray Liotta. He was 83 The Goodfellas scene where he slaps Ray Liotta was not in the script > **[Paul Sorvino, 'Goodfellas' and 'Law & Order' star, dead at 83 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/entertainment/paul-sorvino-obit/index.html)** > > Paul Sorvino, an imposing actor whose roles ranged from the mob boss in "Goodfellas" to an early stint on the long-running cop drama "Law & Order," has died, according to his publicist Roger Neal. He was 83. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/2 "2022-07-25T20:12:41Z")
Was also very good as a preacher in Oh God ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/3 "2022-07-25T20:19:03Z")
I liked him in the early L&Os (31 episodes!). Fifty years in show business. Sounds like he had a pretty good life. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/4 "2022-07-25T22:59:26Z")
The best “dead eyes” in the biz. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/5 "2022-07-26T00:48:53Z")
There’s a moment in _Rocketeer_ where Sorvino, a mob boss, realizes he’s been duped by the Nazis, and he and his gang join forces with the FBI. At one point in the battle, Sorvino and FBI agent Fitch are standing side by side firing their Tommy guns, and Sorvino looks at Fitch and gives him a little smile. Only a very good actor could pull off that bit without it being hopelessly hokey, and Sorvino was a VERY good actor. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/6 "2022-07-26T01:00:08Z")
Mentioned when James Caan died that I loved _The Gambler_, which Sorvino was great in playing Caan’s bookie. This is out of left field, but the History Channel did a documentary many years ago about the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (and, more generally, organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition) that I always loved because of Sorvino’s voiceover narration. I think he summed up the attitude of all the fathers of all the women Harvey Weinstein assaulted too: “He’s going to go to jail. Oh yeah. That son of a bitch. Good for him if he goes, because if not, he has to meet me. And I will kill the motherfucker. Real simple.” ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/7 "2022-07-26T02:08:25Z")
Also Mira Sorvino’s dad. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/8 "2022-07-26T02:21:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The best “dead eyes” in the biz. Of all the detectives on L&O, he was the only one who gave me the chills. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/9 "2022-07-26T03:57:40Z")
I will always imagine him with a load of sausages on the grill. RIP. 😇 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/10 "2022-08-06T01:32:21Z")
He was in a TV movie with Levar Burton. Sorvino was a deaf attorney, and Burton was a deaf man accused of murder. It was a very good movie because of the great acting by both Sorvino and Burton. I believe Paul Sorvino was also in a very brief series called “AfterMASH,” which included several of the actors from the original MASH. He was the pompous director of a VA hospital. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-sorvino-rip/968550/11 "2022-08-11T04:48:25Z")
I looked on his Wikipedia page and was really kind of surprised to discover that he only did 31 episodes of _Law & Order_. I mean, I knew he wasn’t on the show for all that long, but I guess it’s a testament to his skills that he cast such a shadow in just one season and change.