Paul Sorvino
Sorvino at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Paul Anthony Sorvino (1939-04-13) April 13, 1939 (age 73) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Lorraine Davis

Paul Anthony Sorvino (born April 13, 1939) is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the 1990 gangster film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order. He is the father of actress Mira Sorvino.

Early life[link]

Sorvino was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Italian American parents Marietta, a homemaker and piano teacher, and Ford Sorvino, a robe factory foreman.^[1] He attended Lafayette High School, where he was classmates with painter Peter Max, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.^[2]

Career[link]

Paul Sorvino, 2008

He began his career as a copywriter in an advertising agency, where he worked with John Margeotes, founder of Margeotes, Fertitta, and Weiss. He took 18 years of voice lessons. While attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, he decided to go into the theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the 1964 musical Bajour, and six years later he appeared in his first film, Where's Poppa? He received an avalanche of critical praise for his performance as Phil Romano in Jason Miller's 1972 Broadway play That Championship Season, a role he repeated in the 1982 TCS film version. In a 1974 ABC Movie of the Week, he played Harry Walters, a stout, real estate salesman, who is randomly picked up by a beautiful woman (JoAnna Cameron) and raped at gunpoint as a prank, and left to explain to his friend (Adam Arkin) and wife (Michael Learned) how "It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy", a movie considered risqué, even for the '70s. He also appeared in the 1976 Elliott Gould/Diane Keaton vehicle I Will, I Will...For Now. He has starred in the weekly series We'll Get By (1975, as George Platt), Bert D'Angelo/Superstar (1976, in the title role) and The Oldest Rookie (1987, as Detective Ike Porter). He also directed Wheelbarrow Closers, a 1976 Broadway play by Louis La Russo II, which starred Danny Aiello.

In 1981, Sorvino played the role of Italian-American communist Louis C. Fraina in Warren Beatty's epic film Reds. He appeared in Larry Cohen's 1985 science fiction horror film The Stuff as a reclusive militia leader, alongside his future Law & Order co-star Michael Moriarty. He helped found the American Stage Company, a group that launched several successful Off-Broadway shows, while living in Tenafly, New Jersey in 1986.^[3]

In 1991, he took over from George Dzundza on the popular series Law & Order, and in 1993 he subbed for the late Raymond Burr in a Perry Mason TV movie. He has also appeared as Bruce Willis' father in the weekly series Moonlighting, and the "Lamont" counterpart in the never-aired original pilot for Sanford and Son. Some of his most notable film roles were caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990) and Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). In addition to Goodfellas, Sorvino also played mob bosses Eddie Valentine in The Rocketeer and Tony Morolto in The Firm. He founded the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation, with the goal of building asthma centers for children and adults across the United States. 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 lower-budget TV version of That Championship Season, which was written by his friend Jason Miller.

He also lent his role in Hey Arnold: The Movie as the main antagonist, Mr. Schneck, the evil CEO of Future Tech Industries who wants to convert Arnold's neighborhood into a huge shopping mall.

From 2000 to 2002, he had a starring role as Frank DeLucca in the CBS television drama That's Life. He also starred in the CBS comedy Still Standing as Al Miller, father to Bill (Mark Addy.

He filmed The Trouble with Cali in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. He is directing and starring in the film which is partially funded by Lackawanna County, where the city of Scranton is the county seat. His daughter, Mira, also stars in the film. He co-ventured with Peter Margo, the founder of Palmer Video, to form CareFromAll.org to raise funds for his charity.

Sorvino played GeneCo founder Rotti Largo in the 2008 musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera. Working with Repo! director Darren Lynn Bousman again, Sorvino plays God ^[4] in The Devil's Carnival, an upcoming short film to be screened on tour beginning in April, 2012.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Sorvino lives between Los Angeles and Gilbert, Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains. He is married to Lorraine Davis, a drama therapist for Alzheimer's patients and has three children: Mira, Michael, and Amanda.

On January 17, 2007, news reports detailed that he displayed a gun in front of his daughter Amanda's ex-boyfriend, Daniel Snee, after the man pounded on her hotel door and made threats. Amanda testified that Snee threatened to kill her at a hotel January 3 in Stowe, Vermont. She said she locked herself in the bathroom and called both 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 is legally able to carry a gun in different states. He did not point the gun at Snee or threaten him.^[6]

In March 2008, Sorvino and his daughter Amanda lobbied with the Americans Against Horse Slaughter in Washington, DC for Congress and the Senate to Pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S311/HR503). The Sorvinos run a private horse rescue in Gilbert, Pennsylvania.^[7]

He is also an accomplished sculptor, specializing in cast bronze. In December 2008 his sculpture of his friend the late Jason Miller was unveiled in Scranton Pa. In addition, he guest stars on the most recent album of Neapolitan singer Eddy Napoli, Napulitanata, performing a duet of the song "Luna Rossa."^[8]

In 2007, Sorvino launched "Paul Sorvino Foods", to market a range of pasta sauces. Based on his mother's recipe, product began appearing in supermarkets in the northeastern United States in late 2009.^[9] Three years later, Sorvino became part owner in Janson-Beckett Cosmeceuticals.^[10]

Controversy[link]

In 2005, Sorvino partnered with Lackawanna County to film The Trouble with Cali in Scranton, Pennsylvania. An initial investment by the county of $250,000 was followed by a second $250,000 in 2006.^[11] The project drew criticism and media attention over the long production time and apparent lack of progress,^[12] and the fact that the county did not protect its investment, which was carried out by county commissioners that were under indictment for corruption, with a completion bond.^[13] The Trouble with Cali debuted February 21, 2012, at the Sedona Film Festival, with former Lackawanna County commissioner Robert Cordaro listed as a producer only four weeks after his 11-year sentencing on public corruption charges.^[14]

Filmography[link]

• Where's Poppa? (1970) - Owner of 'Gus & Grace's Home'
• Cry Uncle! (1971) - Coughing Cop
• Made for Each Other (1971) - Gig's Father
• The Panic in Needle Park (1971) - Samuels
• Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972) - Taxi Driver
• A Touch of Class (1973) - Walter Menkes
• The Day of the Dolphin (1973) - Curtis Mahoney
• Shoot It Black, Shoot It Blue (1974) - Ring
• King Lear (1974) (TV) - Gloucester
• Tell Me Where It Hurts (1974) (TV) - Joe
• The Gambler (1974) - Hips
• It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy (1974) - Harry Walters
• Angel and Big Joe (1975) - Big Joe
• We'll Get By (TV series) (1975) - George Platt
• I Will, I Will... for Now (1976) - Lou Springer
• Seventh Avenue (1977) (TV) - Dave Shaw
• Oh, God! (1977) - Reverend Willie Williams
• Bloodbrothers (1978) - Louis Chubby De Coco
• Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978) - Lou Friedlander
• The Brink's Job (1978) - Jazz Maffie
• Dummy (1979) (TV) - Lowell Myers
• Lost and Found (1979) - Reilly
• Cruising (1980) - Capt. Edelsen
• Reds (1981) - Louis Fraina
• Melanie (1982) - Walter
• I, the Jury (1982) - Detective Pat Chambers
• A Question of Honor (1982) (TV) - Carlo Danzie
• That Championship Season (1982) - Phil Romano
• Off the Wall (1983) - Warden Nicholas F. Castle
• Chiefs (1983) (TV) - Sheriff Skeeter Willis
• My Mother's Secret Life (1984) (TV) - Max
• With Intent to Kill (1984) (TV) - Doyle Reinecker
• Surviving: A Family in Crisis (1985) (TV) - Harvey
• Wes Craven's Chiller (1985) - Reverend Penny
• The Stuff (1985) - Col. Spears
• Turk 182! (1985) - Himself
• Betrayed by Innocence (1986) (TV) - Mike Vogel
• A Fine Mess (1986) - Tony Pazzo
• Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter (1986) - Gino
• Almost Partners (1987) (TV) - Detective Jack Welder
• The Oldest Rookie (TV series) (1987–1988) - Det. Ike Porter
• Dick Tracy (1990) - Lips Manlis
• Goodfellas (1990) - Paul Cicero
• Age Isn't Everything (1991) - Max
• Don't Touch My Daughter (1991) (TV) - Lt. Willman
• The Rocketeer (1991) - Eddie Valentine
• The Last Mile (1992) (TV) - The Tenor
• Law & Order (TV series) (1991–1992) - Sgt. Phil Cerreta
• The Firm (1993) - Tommie Morolto
• A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives (1993) (TV) - Anthony Caruso
• Backstreet Justice (1994) - Captain Phil Giarusso
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (Episode Homeward) (1994) - Nikolai Rozhenko
• Parallel Lives (1994) (TV) - Ed Starling
• Without Consent (aka Trapped and Deceived) (1994) (TV) - Dr. Winslow
• Cover Me (1995) - J.J. Davis
• Nixon (1995) - Henry Kissinger
• Dog Watch (1996) - Delgoti
• Love Is All There Is (1996) - Piero Malacici
• Escape Clause (1996) (TV) - Lt. Gil Farrand
• Romeo + Juliet (1996) - Fulgencio Capulet
• Blue Heat: The Case of the Cover Girl Murders (Video game) (1997) - J.J. Davis
• American Perfekt (1997) - Sheriff Frank Noonan
• Money Talks (1997) - Guy Cipriani
• Men with Guns (1997) - Horace Burke
• Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way (1997) - Joe Torre
• Most Wanted (1997) - CIA Deputy Director Kenny Rackmill
• Dead Broke (1998) - Harvey
• Bulworth (1998) - Graham Crockett
• The Big House (TV series) (1998) - Narrator
• Knock Off (1998) - Harry Johanson
• Houdini (1998) (TV) - Blackburn
• That Championship Season (1999) (TV) - Coach (also Director)
• Harlem Aria (1999) - Fabiano Grazzi
• Scriptfellas (1999) - Paulie
• Longshot (2000) - Laszlo Pryce
• Cheaters (2000) (TV) - Constantine Kiamos
• The Thin Blue Pie (2000) (TV) - Frank Rizzo
• The Amati Girls (2000) - Joe
• That's Life (TV series) (2000–2002) - Frank DeLucca
• Perfume (2001) - Lorenzo Mancini
• See Spot Run (2001) - Sonny
• Plan B (2001) - Joe Maloni
• Streghe verso nord (Witches to the North) (2001) - Gallio
• Ciao America (2002) - Antonio Primavera
• Hey Arnold!: The Movie (2002) - Scheck (voice only)
• The Cooler (2003) - Buddy Stafford
• Mafia Doctor (2003) - Nicola
• Mambo Italiano (2003) - Gino Barberini
• Mr. 3000 (2004) - Gus Panas
• Goodnight, Joseph Parker (2004) - Charlie
• Still Standing (TV series) (2004–2006) - Al Miller
• Mr. Fix It (2006) - Wally
• Greetings From The Shore (2007) - Catch Turner
• Last Hour (2008) - Maitre Steinfeld
• Carnera: The Walking Mountain (2008) - Ledudal
• Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) - Rotti Largo
• The Wild Stallion (2009) - TBA
• Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe (2009) - Santa
• God Don't Make the Laws (2010) - TBA
• Kill the Irishman (2011) - Anthony Salerno
• Mineville (2011) - Jacob Laremy
• "The Devil's Carnival" (2012) - God

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paul Sorvino at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Sorvino at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)