Vincent Pastore Kleinfeld insults. He is listed in the credits as "Vinny Pastore" playing "Copa Wiseguy." Pastore got a bigger role in the comedy/crime film "" (1995) as Tony Scarboni, one of the three gangsters and Lazarro's (played by Alan Arkin) clients. In the 1996 HBO television movie "Gotti", Pastore played the character of Angelo Ruggiero, alongside future "Sopranos" cast members Tony Sirico and Dominic Chianese. In 1999, Pastore got his biggest role to date in "The Sopranos", where he played the character Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. His character was murdered in the finale of season 2, but Pastore would make a
The Sopranos of the New York City Columbus Day Parade won an injunction preventing Mayor Michael Bloomberg from inviting cast members of "The Sopranos" to participate in the parade. Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind conducted a national survey in August 2001 which polled 800 people. 37% said that they watched the show regularly, and 65% of this group (192 people, or 24% of the total) disagreed that the show portrayed Italian Americans in a negative way. Professor William Roberts was associated with the poll, and is the author of several books on modern Italian history; he commented that: "The show's inflated image of