Paul Anthony Sorvino (/sɔːrˈviːnoʊ/, Italian:[sorˈviːno]; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor.[1] He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law.
Usually cast in dramatic supporting roles, he occasionally acted in lead roles in films including Bloodbrothers (1978), and also in comedic roles including his turn as a bombastic Southern evangelist in Carl Reiner's Oh, God! (1977). Sorvino was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for the 1972 play That Championship Season, and later starred in film and television adaptations. He was the father of actors Mira Sorvino and Michael Sorvino.
Early life
Sorvino was born on April 13, 1939, and raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.[2] His mother, Angela Maria Mattea (née Renzi; 1906–1991), was a homemaker and piano teacher of Italian (Molisan) descent who was born in Connecticut. His father, Ford Sorvino, was an Italian (Neapolitan) immigrant who worked in a robe factory as a foreman.[citation needed]
In 1991, Sorvino took on the role of Sergeant Phil Cerreta (replacing actor George Dzundza in a new role) on the popular series Law & Order. Sorvino initially was excited about the role but left after 29 episodes, citing the exhausting schedule demanded by the filming of the show, a need to broaden his horizons, and the desire to preserve his vocal cords for singing opera. Sorvino's exit from the series came in an episode in which Sgt. Cerreta is shot in the line of duty and transferred to an administrative position in another precinct. He was replaced by Jerry Orbach.[17]
Sorvino founded the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation; he intended to build asthma centers for children and adults across the United States.[24] In 1998, he narrated the series The Big House for The History Channel. In 1999, he directed and again starred in (albeit playing a different role) a TV version of That Championship Season.[8]
In Hey Arnold!: The Movie, Sorvino voiced the main antagonist, Mr. Scheck, the CEO of Future Tech Industries, who wants to convert Arnold's neighborhood into a huge shopping mall.[25] From 2000 to 2002, Sorvino had a lead role as Frank DeLucca in the television drama That's Life.[26] He also starred in the comedy Still Standing as Al Miller, father to Bill (Mark Addy). Sorvino filmed The Trouble with Cali in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. He directed and starred in the film, and his daughter Mira also acted in a lead role in the film.[27]
Sorvino's final motion picture The Ride was released posthumously in 2022. Sorvino appeared alongside Dean Cain, D.B. Sweeney, and his wife Dee Dee in his final performance. Sorvino's scenes were filmed in Jacksonville, Florida.[30]
Personal life
Sorvino lived in Los Angeles and Madison, Indiana. He had three children: Mira, Michael, and Amanda from his first marriage with Lorraine Davis. Mira and Michael are actors.
On January 17, 2007, news reports detailed that he pulled a gun in front of Daniel Snee, an ex-boyfriend of his daughter Amanda, after the man pounded on her hotel room door and made threats. Amanda testified that Snee threatened to kill her at a hotel on January 3 in Stowe, Vermont. She said she locked herself in the bathroom and called both the police and her father. Her 67-year-old father showed up before police, she testified. When police arrived, the young man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, she said. As a deputy sheriff in Pennsylvania, Sorvino was legally authorized to carry a gun in different states. He did not point the gun at Snee or threaten him.[31]
In March 2008, Sorvino and his daughter Amanda lobbied with the Americans Against Horse Slaughter in Washington D.C., for U.S. Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S311/HR503). The Sorvinos run a private horse rescue operation in Gilbert, Pennsylvania.[32]
Sorvino was also an accomplished sculptor, specializing in cast bronze. In December 2008 his sculpture of the late playwright Jason Miller was unveiled in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In addition, he guest-starred on the 2008 album of Neapolitan singer Eddy Napoli, Napulitanata, performing a duet of the song "Luna Rossa".[33]
In 2007, Sorvino launched Paul Sorvino Foods to market a range of pasta sauces. Based on his mother's recipe, the product appeared in supermarkets in the northeastern United States in late 2009.[34] Three years later, Sorvino became part owner in Janson-Beckett Cosmeceuticals.[35]
In an April 2014 interview, Sorvino said, "Most people think I'm either a gangster or a cop or something, but the reality is I'm a sculptor, a painter, a best-selling author, many, many things—a poet, an opera singer, but none of them is gangster, but, you know, obviously I sort of have a knack for playing these things. It's almost my later goal in life to disabuse people of the notion that I'm a slow-moving, heavy-lidded thug, and most people's impression of me IS that—because of the success of Goodfellas and a few other things, but they forget that I was also Dr. Kissinger in Nixon, the deaf lawyer in Dummy, and they forget a lot of things that I've done. It would be nice to have my legacy more than that of just tough guy."[36]
In December 2014, Sorvino married political pundit Dee Dee Benkie after he met her while appearing as a guest on Your World With Neil Cavuto.[38]
In January 2018, Sorvino found out that Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed his daughter Mira, and blacklisted her within the film industry after she rejected the film mogul's sexual demands. In response, Sorvino told TMZ, "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. If I had known it, he would not be walking. He'd be in a wheelchair. This pig will get his comeuppance. The law will get him. He's going to go to jail and die in jail."[39]
^Steyn, Mark (host) (January 7, 2017). "The Mark Steyn Show Season 1—Episode 1". The Mark Steyn Show. Season 1. Episode 1. CRTV. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
^ ab"Turning Tables on Rape". The Los Angeles Times. November 19, 1974. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"12 Mar 1976, Page 64". Fort Lauderdale News. March 12, 1976. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"14 Mar 1975, Page 37". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 14, 1975. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"10 Apr 1976, 28". Sun Herald. April 10, 1976. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"16 Sep 1987, Page 43". The Akron Beacon Journal. September 16, 1987. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"24 Oct 1976, 128". The Tampa Tribune. October 24, 1976. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^Klein, Alvin (March 19, 2000). "JERSEY FOOTLIGHTS; Executive Producer Search Is on". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2017. By contrast, the theater was founded with a flourish in 1986, mostly because the actor Paul Sorvino, its first artistic head, lived in Teaneck at the time, opened his home to fund-raising parties, starred in the opening play (All The King's Men) and directed The Diary of Anne Frank, in which his daughter, Amanda Sorvino, played the title role.
^ abCourrier, Kevin; Green, Susan (November 20, 1999). Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion. Los Angeles, California: Renaissance Books. pp. 123–125. ISBN1-58063-108-8.
^ ab"22 Oct 1993, Page 48". Clarion-Ledger. October 22, 1993. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"23 Sep 1986, 17". Lancaster New Era. September 23, 1986. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"21 Sep 1990, 31". The Press Democrat. September 21, 1990. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"10 Dec 1995, Page 64". Detroit Free Press. December 10, 1995. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"20 Jun 1991, Page 44". The Pittsburgh Press. June 20, 1991. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"28 Jun 2002, 115". The News and Observer. June 28, 2002. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"31 Aug 2001, Page 134". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 31, 2001. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"18 Feb 2008, A30". The Monitor. February 18, 2008. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"2 Jan 2009, 39". The Charlotte Observer. January 2, 2009. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.