Paul Sorvino, Goodfellas and Law & Order actor, dies at 83

Paul Sorvino, the imposing and amiable actor best known for his role in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas, died Monday morning of natural causes with his wife, Dee Dee Sorvino, at his side. He was 83.

"Our hearts are broken," Dee Dee said in a statement provided to EW by Sorvino's publicist, Roger Neal. "There will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage."

Dee Dee also shared the news over social media. "I am completely devastated," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the couple. "The love of my life & the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone. I am heartbroken #iloveyousomuch #paulsorvino #sweetheart #husband #loveofmylife."

According to Neal, Sorvino suffered with health issues over the past few years.

Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino, the actor's daughter, had just commemorated her father's 83rd birthday this past April. "A very Happy Birthday to my father Paul Sorvino," she wrote on Twitter at the time. "I miss you so much and hope to be together in person very soon!"

Mira shared a statement on Twitter on Monday, after the news of Sorvino's passing broke. "My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed," she wrote. "My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I'm sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend."

The Romy and Michele's High School Reunion actress also shared a black square to her Instagram page.

Born April 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, Sorvino starred in films like Goodfellas, Nixon, Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, and For the Love of Money. He also appeared on television, notably as a star of Law & Order.

Sorvino received critical praise on the stage as well, earning Tony and Drama Desk nominations in 1973 for his turn as Phil Romano in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season. He later reprised his role from that production in the 1999 Showtime TV movie of the same name — which he also directed.

Sorvino started his career as an advertising copywriter. He decided to go into theater after attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, making his Broadway debut in 1964 with the musical Bajour.

Everett Collection 'Goodfellas' star Paul Sorvino died of natural causes at the age of 83.

The thespian would come to enjoy a storied career on the screen as well, beginning with his 1970 debut in Carl Reiner's Where's Poppa?. He's still best known, however, for his performance as mobster Paul Cicero, a.k.a. Big Paulie, in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.

At a 25th anniversary panel in 2015 with Scorsese and the cast at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sorvino revealed he nearly quit the production because he couldn't wrap his head around the contradictions of his character. What unlocked the character for him, oddly enough, was a severe face he accidentally made in the mirror while straightening his tie.

"I'd done a lot of comedies as well as dramas, but I'd never done a really tough guy," he separately told The New York Times in 2015. "I never had it in me. And this [part] called for a lethality, which I felt was way beyond me. I called my manager three days before we started shooting and said, 'Get me out. I'm going to ruin this great man's picture, and I'm going to ruin myself.' He, being wise, said, 'Call me tomorrow, and if necessary I will get you out.'"

"Then," he continued, "I was going by the hall mirror to adjust my tie. I was just inconsolable. And I looked in the mirror and literally jumped back a foot. I saw a look I'd never seen, something in my eyes that alarmed me. A deadly soulless look in my eyes that scared me and was overwhelmingly threatening. And I looked to the heavens and said, 'You've found it.'"

Sorvino is survived by Dee Dee; his three adult children, Mira, Amanda, and Michael; and five grandchildren.

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