Bruce MacVittie, a prolific character actor across screen and stage, has died at the age of 65.
Known for a role in the HBO mob series The Sopranos, his theatrical work and as the co-founder of the Naked Angels theatre troupe, MacVittie died in a Manhattan hospital on 7 May.
His wife, Carol Ochs, confirmed the news to the New York Times. No cause of death was disclosed.
MacVittie’s started acting professionally in 1980, being cast as the lead in Edward Allan Baker’s What’s So Beautiful About a Sunset Over Prairie Avenue? at the Ensemble Studio Theater.
He worked as the understudy to Al Pacino in the Broadway production of American Buffalo, later taking over the lead role.
MacVittie enjoyed a host of TV roles in the 1980s, including on Miami Vice, Barney Miller and The Equalizer. In 1988, he was cast in the short-lived cop show The Street, playing the partner of Stanley Tucci’s character.
In the 1990s and 2000s, he featured in small roles in a host of acclaimed series, including The Sopranos (playing juror Danny Scalercio), Homicide: Life On the Street, Sex and the City, and Oz.
He also provided vocal work for video games – among them the best-selling Grand Theft Auto V.
In 2011, he retrained as a nurse, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Manhattan’s Hunter College in 2013.
Towards the end of his life, he returned to acting, however, and appeared in projects such as David Simon’s New York-set drama The Deuce, as well as the 2019 miniseries When They See Us.
MacVittie is survived by his wife and daughter, Sophia Oliva Ochs MacVittie.
