Vincent Pastore, a veteran character actor who played mobsters and tough guys and was best known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.

His manager, Robert Attermann, said Pastore’s body was discovered by friends on Saturday (US time).

Another of his managers, Bob McGowan, said he had been trying to reach Pastore about a possible job but had been unable to reach him. He learned of his death from another client and actor on the show, Vincent Curatola.

“He was the most loyal client, and he always gave to charity,” McGowan said. “He was the kind of guy who would help anybody, which is rare in my business.”

Michael Imperioli, a longtime friend and collaborator with Pastore, said on Instagram that it seemed as though he had known Vinny forever.

“We did lots of work together and travelled all over the USA as well as Italy and Australia,” said Imperioli. “Lots of good times. Lots of laughs. Vinny was a kind-hearted brother who cared deeply about his family and friends. I will miss him always.”

Tall and sturdily built, Pastore had a substantial career in TV and movies dating back to the 1980s. He had roles in big movies including Goodfellas and Awakenings (both 1990) and Carlito’s Way (1993) and had become best known for playing mob enforcers, capos and otherwise tough guys when he was cast in a major role on the HBO series The Sopranos, which premiered in 1999.

His character was known as Big Pussy – not for any obscene reason, but because he had started his career in crime as a cat burglar. His friends added “Big” to distinguish him from another character, Gennaro Malanga, known as Little Pussy.

Big Pussy, a seemingly loyal and largely sympathetic character in the expansive, star-crossed world of The Sopranos, was also a longtime informant for the FBI. The tension between his loyalty to his boss, Tony Soprano (the late James Gandolfini), and his ties to law enforcement provided one of the central story arcs of the hit show’s first two seasons.

His inevitable but still shocking execution at the hands of Tony, Paulie Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) — on a boat at the end of season two — remains one of the most memorable scenes in the show’s six seasons.

Pastore was born in the Bronx and grew up in suburban New Rochelle, New York. He enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War and later attended Pace University. He is survived by his daughter, Renee Pastore.