Guide Note:Paul Sorvino is an Italian-American character actor. He began his career as a copywriter for an advertising agency. Mr. Sorvino made his theater debut in 1964 in the musical Bajour on Broadway. In 1970 he appeared in his first film Where's Poppa?, at the age of 30. As a severe asthma sufferer, Paul Sorvino started the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation, whose goal is to build asthma centers for adults and children across the United States. Founder of the Dogfellas Dog Adoption Organization in February of 2002. His hobbies are opera, painting, sculpting, and cooking.
Fast Facts:
- Birth Name: Paul Anthony Sorvino
- Birthdate: April 13, 1939
- Age: 69
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York City
- Parents: Marietta and Ford Sorvino
- Attended: The American Musical and Dramatic Academy
- Took 18 years of voice lessons
- Wanted to be an opera singer
- Began Acting: 1970 - present
- Speaks fluent Italian
- Made fifty movies in the last decade
- First wife: Vanessa Arico
- Married: March 20, 1991 - 1996 (divorced)
- Ex-Spouse: Lorraine Davis -Drama therapist for Alzheimer's patients (divorced 1988)
- Children: Mira, Michael and Amanda
- Father of movie actress Mira Sorvino
- Named King of Brooklyn in 1993
- Narrator: The Big House on the The History Channel
Personal Quotes: When asked what he thought of Goodfellas when it first came out in 1990, he said:
"I thought it was boring, excessively violent and not a good movie. I thought I was boring, I thought that I had hurt my career, I thought that this movie should not have been made and it's not a good movie". He then said three hours later after thinking more about it, "Do you know, I'm kind of coming through a clearing here and I'm thinking that's not a boring movie, that's a good movie, that's a great movie maybe, and I'm really good in it!"
On why he left "Law & Order":
"One of the frustrating things about that role - one of the reasons George Dzundza left, I assume, and certainly why I left - is that there wasn't enough range...It wasn't a large enough vehicle for me to express what it was I want to express as an artist."
