'Sopranos' Johnny Cakes Found Dead

Zap2It.com | December 26, 2008

John Costelloe, 'The Sopranos'

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Actor John Costelloe appears to have killed himself

John Costelloe, a New York City firefighter turned actor, was found dead in a basement bedroom at his Brooklyn home on Dec. 18. It appears that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 47.

Although he has nearly 20 acting credits to his name, the actor was best known for his four-episode arc playing the short-order cook Jim Witowski -- aka Johnn Cakes -- who becomes mob henchman Vito Spatafore's (Josephy Gannascoli) gay lover on the HBO drama "The Sopranos."

"I was shocked when I heard, and it still hasn't really sunk in," Gannascoli tells the New York Post. "I never detected anything troubling about him. I enjoyed all the time I ever spent with him."