{"id":25779,"date":"2026-08-03T03:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T22:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=25779"},"modified":"2026-08-03T03:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T22:42:31","slug":"vincent-pastore-cause-of-death-revealed-as-fellow-sopranos-stars-pay-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=25779","title":{"rendered":"Vincent Pastore Cause of Death Revealed as Fellow &#8216;Sopranos&#8217; Stars Pay Tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:default1=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As you\u2019ve likely heard by now, beloved <em>Sopranos<\/em> star Vincent Pastore has passed away at the age of 80.<\/p>\n<p>The actor \u2014 who played Tony Soprano associate turned federal informant Sal \u201cBig P\u2013sy\u201d Bonpensiero \u2014 reportedly died in his sleep of natural causes.<\/p>\n<p>Even though his character was \u201cwhacked\u201d in Season 2, Pastore played a major role in the <em>Sopranos<\/em>\u2018 ascension and legacy, and he remained a fan favorite in the years since the show wrapped up its run on HBO.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Vincent Pastore attends HBO's &quot;The Sopranos&quot; 25th anniversary celebration on January 10, 2024 at Da Nico Ristorante in New York City. \" class=\"wp-image-560255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Vincent Pastore attends HBO's &quot;The Sopranos&quot; 25th anniversary celebration on January 10, 2024 at Da Nico Ristorante in New York City. \" class=\"wp-image-560255 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Vincent Pastore attends HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d 25th anniversary celebration on January 10, 2024 at Da Nico Ristorante in New York City. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Dia Dipasupil\/WireImage)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And now, fellow alums of the iconic show are paying tribute to their late costar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA wonderful actor, a kind and loving man,\u201d\u00a0Jamie Lynn-Sigler, who starred as Tony\u2019s daughter Meadow Soprano, wrote on her\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stories\/jamielynnsigler\/\">Instagram Stories<\/a>\u00a0on Sunday. \u201cIt was an honor to know you and work with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a hard one for us, it seems like I\u2019ve known Vinny forever,\u201d Michael Imperioli, whio played Christopher Moltisanti in the show wrote on his own\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dbg1eWLhaMv\/?hl=en\">Instagram<\/a> page, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did lots of work together and traveled all over the USA as well as Italy and Australia. Lots of good times. Lots of laughs. Vinny was a kind hearted brother who cared deeply about his family and friends. I will miss him always.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuch a funny &amp; charming man\u2026just a beautiful soul. Absolutely heartbreaking,\u201d recalled Lorraine Bracco, who played Tony\u2019s therapist, Dr. Melfi, on her\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stories\/braccoabroad\/?hl=en\">Instagram Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pastore was also honored by Edie Falco, who portrayed Carmela Soprano.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DbiwU1QRDLz\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an awful loss. So unexpected,\u201d she told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/01\/celebrity-news\/vincent-pastore-mourned-by-sopranos-cast-after-his-death\/\">Page Six<\/a>\u00a0in a statement. \u201cVinnie was always so full of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dominic Chianese, who portrayed Tony\u2019s Uncle Junior, also issued a statement,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe lost a friend today,\u201d he shared on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dbg6SMph0vp\/?hl=en\">Instagram<\/a>. \u201cPaying respect and sending Love in tribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pastore\u2019s body was reportedly discovered by friends in his apartment in the Bronx on August 1.<\/p>\n<p>His death was later confirmed by his managers, managers Robert Attermann and Bob McGowan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had the privilege of representing Vinny for more than 30 years, long before The Sopranos made him a household name,\u201d Attermann told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1434585\/vincent-pastore-dead-sopranos-stars-share-tributes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">E! News<\/a> in a statement. \u201cTo the world, he will always be remembered as the unforgettable \u2018Big P\u2014y,\u2019 but to those of us who knew him, he was so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts go out to Vincent Pastore\u2019s loved ones during this enormously difficult time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 2 minutes As you\u2019ve likely heard by now, beloved Sopranos star Vincent Pastore has passed away at the age of 80. The actor \u2014 who played Tony Soprano associate turned federal informant Sal \u201cBig P\u2013sy\u201d Bonpensiero \u2014 reportedly died in his sleep of natural causes. Even though his character was \u201cwhacked\u201d in Season&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1923356912-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}