RI native Bruce MacVittie, who played tough guys in shows like 'The Sopranos,' dies at 65

Bruce MacVittie, a character actor who grew up in Rhode Island, has died at the age of 65.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the cause of death had not been determined.

MacVittie is known for his appearances in shows including “Law & Order," “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Homicide." The Times described him as a ubiquitous character actor who "excelled at playing tough guys with tormented souls, revealing a tenderness at the heart of his characterizations."

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MacVittie was born in Providence and attended Cranston East High School and Boston University. In a 1984 profile, The Journal described him as a "dark, intense young man, a Camel smoker, and an actor who seems in the mold of De Niro and Pacino."

MacVittie recalled that he had "lived all over" Rhode Island in his early years, before his family settled in the Edgewood section of Cranston, where he first developed an interest in acting while attending Park View Junior High.

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MacVittie's father worked for the Narragansett Electric Company and his mother, in 1984, was working as a bartender for a yacht club.

“Bruce’s background was working class, like me,” Frances McDormand, a longtime friend, told The Times. “There was something about celebrating this in our work that was important to both of us. Bruce had a pride about where he’d come from that he carried with him and was even cocky about. It was very charismatic.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI-born 'Sopranos' actor Bruce MacVittie dies at 65