Vincent Pastore, 'Big Pussy' from The Sopranos, dies at 80

Vincent Pastore, who gave American television one of its most enduring and morally complex characters in Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero, died at 80 in the Bronx neighborhood where he was born. A Navy veteran who came to acting through grit rather than design, he found his place in the canon of prestige drama through The Sopranos, a role that asked him to embody both deep loyalty and its betrayal. His passing closes a quiet but significant chapter in the story of how television learned to take itself seriously.