L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano " Most people think I'm either a gangster or a cop or some- thing. The reality is I ' m a s c u l p t o r , a painter, and a best-selling author. I am many things ... a p o e t , a n o p e r a s i n g e r . I t would be nice to be remem- bered for more than being a tough guy." In over fifty years in the movie industry, Ital- ian-American actor P a u l Sorvino described what it truly meant, to him, to be an artist. Sorvino died of natural causes at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 25th after dealing with health i s s u e s o v e r t h e p a s t f e w years. Now that the New York- born actor has passed away aged 83, we as Italians need to cherish and understand his legacy and remember not only his contribution to the entertainment industry, but also his passion for poetry, painting, and opera. Paul Anthony Sorvi- n o was born on April 13, 1 9 3 9 , i n B r o o k l y n , t h e youngest of three sons. His p a r e n t s w e r e F o r t u n a t o Sorvino, known as Ford, and Marietta Renzi, a homemak- er and piano teacher. The elder Mr. Sorvino, a robe-fac- tory foreman, was born in Naples, Italy, and emigrated to New York with his parents in 1907. Paul grew up in the Ben- sonhurst section of Brooklyn and attended Lafayette High School. His original career dream was to sing — he idol- ized the Italian-American tenor and actor Mario Lanza — and he began taking voice lessons when he was 8 years old or so. Because he was musically inclined, he ended up attend- ing the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York where he fell for theater. He made his Broad- way debut in 1964 in Bajour, and his film debut in Carl Reiner's Where's Poppa? in 1970. I n t h e 1 9 7 0 s , h e a c t e d alongside Al Pacino in The Panic in Needle Park, with James Caan in The Gambler, and again with Carl Reiner in O h , G o d ! H e w a s a l s o i n William Friedkin's bank rob- bery comedy The Brink's Job. In John G. Avildsen's fol- low-up to Rocky, Slow Danc- ing in the Big City, Sorvino got to play a romantic lead and use his dance training opposite professional balleri- na Anne Ditchburn. S o r v i n o h a d s t a r r e d i n Miller's Tony- and Pulitzer- winning play That Champi- onship Season - on Broadway in 1972 - which also got him a Tony nomination. He also starred in the play's movie adaptation. He was especially prolific in the 1990s, when he played Lips in Beatty's Dick Tracy and Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, a char- acter inspired by real-life mobster Paul Vario. On TV, S o r v i n o a p p e a r e d i n 3 1 episodes of Dick Wolf's Law & Order. He followed those with roles in The Rocketeer, The Firm, Nixon, which got him a Screen Actors Guild Award n o m i n a t i o n , a n d B a z Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet as Juliet's father, Fulgencio Capulet. B e a t t y w o u l d t u r n t o Sorvino often, enlisting him again for his political satire Bulworth, which came out in 1998, and his 2016 Holly- wood love letter Rules Don't Apply. Sorvino had three children f r o m h i s f i r s t m a r r i a g e , including Academy Award- winning actor Mira Sorvi- n o . H e a l s o d i r e c t e d a n d starred in a film written by h i s d a u g h t e r A m a n d a Sorvino and featuring his son Michael Sorvino. H e w a s p r o u d o f h i s daughter and cried when she w o n t h e b e s t - s u p p o r t i n g a c t r e s s O s c a r f o r M i g h t y 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 lan- guage that I've ever heard — well, maybe Italian," he com- mented. Sorvino wanted to be seen for more than what he was on screen and took particular pride in his singing. In 1996, Paul Sorvino: An Evening of Songs was broadcast on tele- v i s i o n a s a p a r t o f a P B S fundraising campaign. Songs performed included Torna A Surriento, Guaglione, O Sole Mio, The Impossible Dream, and Mama. Mr. Sorvino's final screen roles were in 2019. He played a corrupt senator in Wel- c o m e t o A c a p u l c o , a s p y - comedy film, and the crime boss Frank Costello in the E p i x s e r i e s G o d f a t h e r o f Harlem. He also ran a horse rescue in Pennsylvania, had a gro- cery store pasta sauce line based on his mother's recipe, and sculpted a bronze statue of the late playwright Jason Miller that resides in Scran- ton, Pennsylvania. In 2014, he married politi- cal pundit Dee Dee Benkie. "Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the great- est performers to ever grace the screen and stage," she said in a statement. She was by his side when he died. Of Italian descent like him, Dee D e e B e n k i e i s a n a u t h o r renowned for the bestselling book Pinot, Pasta, and Par- ties, which she co-wrote with Sorvino, an Italian cookbook that contains 80 recipes with menus. Paul Sorvino and Dee Dee Benkie met during the Your World with Italian American host Neil Cavuto program, held by Fox News in 2014. The Goodfellas actor met his wife in the green room of the show before a televised seg- ment. The couple returned to t h e s h o w i n 2 0 1 5 t o announce they were married and had eloped while stand- ing in front of the Lincoln Center fountain. C a v u t o s a i d h e t a k e s "great pride" knowing that his show was responsible for introducing the two. Paul Sorvino had previ- o u s l y m a r r i e d L o r r a i n e Davis, an actress, in 1966, and they had three children before divorcing in 1988. Mr. Sorvino's second wife, from 1991 until their 1996 divorce, was Vanessa Arico, a real estate agent. Mira Sorvino remembered her father posting a message on Twitter about the actor who died after struggling w i t h h e a l t h i s s u e s . " M y father the great Paul Sorvino has passed. 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." Italian-American community mourns the death of actor Paul Sorvino SILVIA GIUDICI Paul Sorvino with his daughter Mira at the Giffoni Film Festival (Photo: GIOLE/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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