Star Trek: The Next Generation guest actor Paul Sorvino dies

Paul Sorvino as Worf's foster brother Nikolai in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION's "Homeward

JULY 27, 2022 - He was best known as an actor for playing cops and criminals, but in real life he was also a poet, sculptor, painter, and singer. Paul Sorvino has died of natural causes at the age of 83.

Sorvino’s career goes back more than fifty years, notes Bloomberg, and includes his Broadway debut in 1964 in Bajour and his film debut in Where’s Poppa? in 1970. The Brooklyn native would go on to be best known for his roles in such productions as Good Fellas and Law & Order, though he said once, “It would be nice to have my legacy more than that of just tough guy.”

Playing a rule breaker, perhaps, if not a tough guy, Sorvino is known to Star Trek fans as Worf’s brother, Nikolai Rozhenko, from the Star Trek: The Next Generation season seven episode, “Homeward.” His other genre work included Dick Tracy and The Rocketeer.

Sorvino also ran a horse rescue, had a pasta sauce line based on his mother’s recipe, and sang opera. He had three children, including the Academy Award-winning actor Mira Sorvino, who tweeted after his death, “My heart is rent asunder - a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars, Dad, as you ascend.”

For more on his life and career, see the full obituary at Bloomberg.

Please join all of us in offering our condolences to the friends and family of Paul Sorvino.