“Goodfellas” star Paul Sorvino was feted for his 76th birthday Thursday night at a party that also paid homage to the classic film’s 25th anniversary.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whose late father, Mario, was a close friend of the actor’s — kicked off the festivities, held at midtown’s NYY Steak, with a touching toast to the Brooklyn native.
“I am not just here as Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York. I’m here as Andrew, son of Mario Cuomo,” he said. “Now, we lost Mario Cuomo in January. So you may think he’s gone. He’s gone in one way but … my father, I carry him on my shoulder and he talks to me on a daily basis. He said to me, ‘Paul’s birthday’s coming up. You have to go say happy birthday to Paul.’ And I said, ‘I can’t go. I just got back from Cuba. I haven’t slept in two days’ … and my father said, ‘No, no, no. You have to go.’
“Paul has been a good friend for a lot of years and Paul represents everything that we respect … He was a better friend in the down days than in the up days and that’s really the character of a person,” Cuomo continued.
After Cuomo’s speech, a teary-eyed Sorvino, also a trained opera singer, belted out a song in Italian dedicated to the governor before cutting into a “Goodfellas”-themed cake from “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro.
“Oh, I’ve done some good movies, but no one has ever done more than that,” Sorvino told Page Six, reflecting on “Goodfellas.” “It ranks along with the best movies of all time.”
The cast of the Martin Scorsese film will reunite for a 25th anniversary screening and Q&A this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Other guests Thursday included Sorvino’s former “Law & Order” co-star Chris Noth and Evander Holyfield, who said he’ll be taking in this weekend’s fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings at Madison Square Garden.
Sorvino’s wife of four months, TV and radio personality Dee Dee Sorvino, his son Michael and a number of other family members and friends were also there.