Amid the carnage of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), the actor Paul Sorvino, who has died aged 83, was a soothing presence. A reassuring, panda-like figure with a pillowy face, Sorvino played the avuncular mob kingpin Paulie Cicero, who gives the green light to most of the blood-soaked horrors on display. Yet his placatory voice and plodding, unhurried movements seem to disavow any part in the mayhem.
During a pampered spell in prison, Paulie wields a razor blade not to wound his foes but to cut garlic into tissue-thin slices that will liquefy in the pan when cooked with oil. Serving wine with dinner in his quarters, he pads around in dressing-gown and socks. “Paulie might have moved slow,” observes Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) admiringly. “But it was only because Paulie didn’t have to move for anybody.”
