Paul Anthony Sorvino (born April 13, 1939) is an American character actor whose solid career has largely been the portrayal of authority figures, both as a legal enforcer and criminal, in television, stage, and film.

Tall, commanding-looking Italian-American actor Paul Sorvino has made a solid career of portraying authority figures (on both sides of the law). He originally had his heart set on a life as a singer in the opera, but never quite achieved the vocal finesse required. He had additionally been exposed to dramatic arts while studying at the New York Music and Dramatic Academy, furthered his studies in the theater and eventually appeared in his first film Where's Poppa? (1970), at the age of 30. An interesting point is that Sorvino suffered from severe asthma, and worked hard at mastering various breathing techniques to manage the illness, and not let it interfere with his blossoming career. He appeared in a variety of film, TV and theatrical productions over the next few years and received critical praise for his role in the Broadway play "That Championship Season," a role he reprised in the 1981 film alongside Robert Mitchum and Martin Sheen. Other noteworthy performances during the 1980/'90s included a stressed-out police chief in Cruising (1980), Mike Hammer's cop buddy in I, the Jury (1982), Lips Manlis in the standout performance as mob patriarch Paul Cicero in the powerhouse Goodfellas (1990). Keeping himself continually busy, Sorvino has performed in nearly 50 movies in the past decade, including a dynamic portrayal of Henry Kissinger in Nixon (1995), as Fulgencio Capulet in the updated Romeo + Juliet (1996) and in the Las Vegas thriller Cooler, The (2003). Sorvino has also tried his hand at film directing, started the Sorvino Asthma Foundation, and is the proud father of actress Mira Sorvino.