John Costelloe | 'Sopranos' actor, 47

John Costelloe, 47, the actor who portrayed the gay lover of a closeted mobster on

The Sopranos

, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in New York, police said.

A police spokesman, Lt. John Grimpel, said Mr. Costelloe was found dead in an apparent suicide at his Brooklyn home Dec. 18.

A former New York City firefighter, Mr. Costelloe gained fame in 2006 when he was cast as short-order cook Jim "Johnny Cakes" Witowski opposite Joseph Gannascoli, who played gay mobster Vito Spatafore on the hit HBO show.

- Associated Press