Vincent Pastore was born on July 14, 1946, in Bronx, New York. Before deciding to become an actor, the Italian American was a New York club owner. Reportedly, he decided to pursue acting after becoming friends with actors and brothers Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon.

Early in his career, he won small parts in several flicks including the mobster film Goodfellas, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci, and Backstreet Dreams, featuring Brooke Shields and Jason OMalley. Although he had some substantial roles, such as those in Who Do I Gotta Kill? and The Jerky Boys, none of the films featuring Pastore, in which he invariably played the tough guy mobster, were mainstream successes.

Although many of the films in which Vincent starred were box office flops, one good thing came out of all his practice playing the menacing mobster. Vincent was awarded a role on The Sopranos, in which he appears as Salvatore Bonpensiero, an employee of mobster kingpin Tony Soprano. The HBO series, which starred James Gandolfini as Tony, and Edie Falco as the boss’s wife, was a favorite of audiences and critics alike. Vincent appeared in thirty episodes of the series from 1999 to 2006.

It seems as though his role on the leading series has given Vincent’s career a much-needed boost. In 2007, Vincent began working on an amazing eight films, which are in various stages of production. Among his current projects is a starring role in the mafia film The Devil’s Dominoes, which will also star Daniel Baldwin and Joe Farina; another starring role in the mob flick Unmade Man, also featuring Antonio Sabato Jr and Tony Darrow; and Pizza With Bullets, another mob film also starring Richard Portnow, Joey Diaz, and Toni Trucks.

In February of 2007, it was announced that Vincent would be competing on the upcoming installment up ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. Fellow celebrity competitors this time will be Paulina Porizkova, Leeza Gibbons, Laila Ali, and Billy Ray Cyrus. After just one week of preparing for the show, however, Vincent dropped out of the competition. The physical demands of training proved to be too much for Pastore. But don’t feel too bad for Vince. His many movies slated for release or in production will definitely keep him busy throughout 2007.

Vincent has one child, a daughter named Renee. He was engaged to actress and director Lisa Regina for some time. In 2005, however, Vincent earned himself some negative publicity when he allegedly assaulted the actress in Little Italy, Manhattan. He was charged with assault and harassment, but through a plea bargain managed to avoid jail time. Needless to say, the couple is no longer engaged.

YUDDY