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Mira Sorvino is mourning the loss of her beloved father, Paul Sorvino.
The actor, who famously played Paulie Cicero in “Goodfellas,” passed away Monday morning of natural causes at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. The 83-year-old had dealt with health issues over the past few years.
“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed,” the actress tweeted. “My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”
The patriarch’s wife, Dee Dee Sorvino, first confirmed the star’s passing. She was by his side.
PAUL SORVINO, ‘GOODFELLAS’ ACTOR, DEAD AT 83
Paul Sorvino and Mira Sorvino, two successful Hollywood stars, shared a close bond as father and daughter.
(Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
“Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage,” she said in a statement.
“I am completely devastated,” Dee Dee wrote separately on Twitter. “The love of my life & the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone. I am heartbroken.”
In his over 50 years in the entertainment business, Sorvino was a mainstay in films and television, playing an Italian-American communist in Warren Beatty’s “Reds,” Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” and mob boss Eddie Valentine in “The Rocketeer.”
He would often say that while he might be best known for playing gangsters, his real passions were poetry, painting and opera.
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Sorvino began his career in advertising but entered the Hollywood scene after attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He first appeared on Broadway, making his debut in 1964.
He later transitioned into films and television and is most known for his roles in “Goodfellas” and “Law & Order.”
Dee Dee and Sorvino married in 2014 after a chance meeting during a Fox News Channel show.
“She was sent to me by God. She was the love of my life. When I met her there was an aura of light around her head. I felt that was my mother telling me she is the one,” he has said about his wife.
PAUL SORVINO DEAD AT 83: HOLLYWOOD MOURNS THE LOSS OF ‘GOODFELLAS’ STAR
Paul Sorvino praised his daughter, Mira, when she won her first Oscar.
(Photo by D Dipasupil/FilmMagic)
Sorvino had three children from his first marriage, including Mira, 54, an Academy Award winner. He also directed and starred in a film written by his daughter, Amanda Sorvino, and featuring his son, Michael Sorvino.
He was proud of Mira as she rose to Hollywood stardom and cried when she won the best supporting actress Oscar for “Mighty Aphrodite” in 1996. He told the Los Angeles Times that night that he didn’t have the words to express how he felt.
“They don’t exist in any language that I’ve ever heard — well, maybe Italian,” he said.
When he learned that Mira had been among the women allegedly sexually harassed and blacklisted by Harvey Weinstein in the midst of the #MeToo reckoning, he told TMZ that if he had known, Weinstein “Would not be walking. He’d be in a wheelchair.”
MIRA SORVINO TALKS AFTERMATH OF #METOO MOVEMENT: ‘IT WAS AN INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT YEAR’
Paul Sorvino is survived his three adult children: son Michael, and daughters Mira and Amanda (from left, seen here with their mother, Lorraine Davis).
(Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Sorvino is survived by his wife, Dee Dee; his three adult children, Mira, Amanda and Michael; and five grandchildren.
FOX News’ Lauryn Overhultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
