TV, Movie Mobster Frank Vincent Dies

Hollywood is mourning veteran TV and movie mobster Frank Vincent, best known for his roles as Phil Leotardo in The Sopranos and Billy Batts in Goodfellas. The 78-year-old character actor died at a New Jersey hospital Wednesday,a week after he had open-heart surgery following a heart attack, TMZ reports. Vincent had been in the movies more than 40 years, starting with a role alongside Joe Pesci in the 1976 crime film The Death Collector, reports Variety. Robert De Niro was impressed by both actors, who went on to appear with him in Martin Scorsese films Raging Bull and Casino, as well as Goodfellas, where Vincent's most memorable line was "Go home and get your f---ing shinebox."

Vincent was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Jersey City, NJ. His many other roles included appearances in Spike Lee films Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever. He also voiced mob boss Salvatore Leone in the Grand Theft Auto game series and, most recently, appeared in an episode of Law & Order: SVU last year, the Guardian reports. "We lost a great character actor and great man," fellow Sopranos star Vincent Pastore said in an email to friends, per the Blast. "May he always stay in our memory." Vincent is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and their three children. (More The Sopranos stories.)