Paul Sorvino: Goodfellas actor dies aged 83

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American actor Paul Sorvino, best known for playing Paulie Cicero in the gangster classic Goodfellas of 1990, died at age 83.

Roger Neal, his publicist, said he died of natural causes at his home in Indiana.

During a film and television career that began in 1970, the Tony Award-nominated actor was best known for his portrayals of police officers and gangsters .

He is survived by his wife and three children.

In a statement after his death, his wife Dee Dee Sorvino said that "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 the stage," Ms. Sorvino added.

Born in Brooklyn in 1939, Sorvino - whose mother was a piano teacher - began his career in show business with the musical "Bajour" in 1964.

Four years later, he appeared in his first film: Carl Reiner's 1970 dark comedy "Where's Poppa?".

In the decades that followed, Sorvino, an imposing figure who stood 1m93 (6''4) tall, became a staple of American cinema, appearing alongside Al Pacino in 1971's "The Panic in Needle Park" and the recently deceased James Caan in 1974's "The Gambler", in which he played Paul Cicero, an underworld boss. The character was inspired by a true Brooklyn-based gangster Paul Vario.

This role, together with dozens of episodes of "Law and Order", cemented his place as a criminal or a "tough guy" cop in the eyes of many viewers.

Sorvino has acted in over 50 films and dozens of TV shows...