{"id":5935,"date":"2026-08-02T05:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5935"},"modified":"2026-08-02T05:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:38:16","slug":"sopranos-star-vincent-pastore-seen-celebrating-80th-birthday-with-right-hand-man-weeks-before-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5935","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sopranos\u2019 star Vincent Pastore seen celebrating 80th birthday with ‘right-hand man’ weeks before death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Vincent Pastore celebrated his 80th birthday just weeks before his death, sharing a cake with his \u201cright-hand man\u201d \u2014 who remembered the \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d star as a loyal friend who cared deeply for his community and causes close to his heart.<\/p>\n

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Pastore, who was found dead at his Bronx home on Saturday, marked the milestone with a customized birthday cake, laughing as he blew out candles following the \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d song, longtime pal Stephen Villano told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is totally shocking,\u201d said Villano, who last spoke to Pastore on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an amazing individual and he loved his craft\u2026 his craft was to Broadway, movies, television,\u201d \u00a0Villano said. <\/p>\n

Villano knew the actor for nearly three decades and described himself as Pastore\u2019s \u201cright-hand man,\u201d first starting as his driver before developing a close friendship. <\/p>\n

Pastore lived alone and was not sick prior to his death, Villano said. <\/p>\n

Police sources told The Post that the actor died of natural causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was totally healthy. He was fine. He just went for his yearly physical,\u201d Villano said. <\/p>\n

Villano said Pastore \u201chad a lot planned,\u201d including different television shows, premieres as well as being a part of his old-rock music band, the \u201cGangster Squad,\u201d where he would sing and play the tambourine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did everything with Vinny. I drove him to places. I took him to his doctor appointment, I sat with him on shows. I traveled with him,\u201d the grieving pal told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a good man. I will miss him a lot,\u201d Villano said while holding back tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Saturday evening, friends, neighbors and actor and stuntman Chuck Zito, gathered at Pastore\u2019s home of 30 years to remember the actor who was known for playing mobster characters in a slew of film and TV roles.<\/p>\n

While many may assume the \u201cBig Pussy\u201d actor was like the characters he portrayed, Villano said Pastore was anything but a gangster in real life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m an actor. I play a character.\u2019 So people would think that this is the man, but that wasn\u2019t the man,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe man was generous, he was kind, he was caring,\u201d Villano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cared about his neighbors, he cared about charities, he cared about fundraisers,\u201d he said, adding that Pastore supported veterans in the Bronx, US troops and the police department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe supported St. Jude\u2019s [Children\u2019s Research Hospital] and he supported the NYPD,\u201d Villano said. \u201cWidows, orphans, their Christmas parties\u2026all the time, back to blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastore, a prostate cancer survivor, \u201cfought, battled and won\u201d against the cruel disease and liked supporting people going through similar battles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he did \u2018The Apprentice,\u2019 he donated all the money that he won on the [show] to a charity,\u201d Villano said.<\/p>\n

While Pastore was best known for his iconic role in \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d Villano said that the actor\u2019s decades-long career was more than just playing mob informant, Salvatore Bonpensiero, on the hit American crime drama series that ran from 1999 to 2007.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBecause \u2018Big Pussy\u2019 was just a character, he played multiple characters,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s played horror movies, comedies, and you know, he was a comedian.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Pastore was grateful to \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d which was the actor\u2019s \u201ccareer launching pad,\u201d Villano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was grateful to the cast. He loved everybody, made friends with them,\u201d the heartbroken friend said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were a family,\u201d Villano said of the cast. \u201cHe was actually very close with all of them\u2026 Stevie Van Zandt, [Steve Schirripa], Michael Imperioli, Vince Curatola\u201d many of whom shared touching tributes to their \u201cbeloved friend\u201d and \u201cbeautiful soul\u201d on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Just weeks before VIncent Pastore was found dead at his Bronx home Saturday, the \u201cBig Pussy\u201d actor celebrated his milestone birthday on July 14, laughing as loved ones sang \u201cHappy Birthday,\u201d Stephen Villano told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Sopranos\u2019 star Vincent Pastore seen celebrating 80th birthday with 'right-hand man' weeks before death - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5935\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Sopranos\u2019 star Vincent Pastore seen celebrating 80th birthday with 'right-hand man' weeks before death - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just weeks before VIncent Pastore was found dead at his Bronx home Saturday, the \u201cBig Pussy\u201d actor celebrated his milestone birthday on July 14, laughing as loved ones sang \u201cHappy Birthday,\u201d Stephen Villano told The Post.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5935\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-02T05:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Sopranos\u2019 star Vincent Pastore seen celebrating 80th birthday with ‘right-hand man’ weeks before death\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-02T05:38:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/fe4fbf49ca13f0651675c05efee653e4.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5935\",\"name\":\"\u2018Sopranos\u2019 star Vincent Pastore seen celebrating 80th birthday with 'right-hand man' weeks before death - 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