Sopranos mobster Tony Lip dies aged 82

Tony Lip, who starred as a mobster in TV series The Sopranos and several feature films, has died aged 82.

Mr Lip, born Frank Anthony Vallelonga, made his film debut as a wedding guest in The Godfather and later appeared in successful gangster titles Goodfellas, Raging Bull and Donnie Brasco.

He was best known for playing the role of mob kingpin Carmine Lupertazzi in several episodes of The Sopranos.

The actor lived in Paramus and died at a hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Family members told The Record of Woodland Park that Lip had been in failing health in recent years.

Before he became an actor, he worked during the 1960s at the Copacabana nightclub in New York, where he played host to the stars of the era including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Bobby Darin and met the sort of gangsters he would later portray.

In 2005 he co-wrote and released a cookbook titled Shut Up And Eat!, in which he and Italian-American actors James Gandolfini, Danny Aiello, Chazz Palmintieri shared their families' favourite Italian recipes.