'The Sopranos' Fan-Favorite Dead at 80, Vincent Pastore Remembered

Image via HBO Published Aug 1, 2026, 4:57 PM EDT Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts. For reasons unknown, he enjoys analyzing box office receipts, giant sharks, and has become known as the go-to man for all things Bosch, Mission: Impossible and Christopher Nolan in Collider's news division. Recently, he found himself yeehawing along to the Dutton saga on the Yellowstone Ranch. He is proficient in sarcasm, wit, Photoshop and working unfeasibly long hours. Amongst his passions sit the likes of the history of the Walt Disney Company, the construction of theme parks, steam trains and binge-watching Gilmore Girls with a coffee that is just hot enough to scald him. His obsession with the Apple TV+ series Silo is the subject of mockery within the Senior News channel, where his feelings about Taylor Sheridan's work are enough to make his fellow writers roll their eyes. Sign in to your Collider account This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.Tony Soprano's about to get some company wherever he is now, as one of his most trusted confidants (and something else, but let's not spoil things) as sadly passed away. Veteran character actor Vincent Pastore, who became a television icon as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in The Sopranos, has died at the age of 80. Pastore was found dead in his Bronx home on Saturday by longtime friend and assistant Steve Villano, who noted that it appeared Pastore died peacefully in his sleep. Although Pastore didn't begin acting properly until his early 40s — he spent two decades running bars and nightclubs around New York — he went on to build an extraordinary screen career spanning almost 200 film and television credits, with that hard work ethic shining through in the authenticity of his work. His big break came when he joined HBO's megahit in 1999, where he played playing one of Tony Soprano’s oldest friends and most trusted capos. Pastore appeared in 21 of the show’s first 26 episodes before his character met one of television’s most unforgettable ends in the Season 2 finale, “Funhouse.” After secretly informing for the FBI, Big Pussy was executed by Tony, Silvio and Paulie aboard a fishing boat before being dumped into the ocean. Despite his character’s death, Pastore returned several times throughout the series in dreams and flashbacks, simply because his presence was too big to ignore both literally and metaphorically.