"Sopranos" actor Vincent Pastore appeared yesterday in the trendy Manhattan Criminal Court, answering to attempted assault charges. Back in April he was involved in a Little Italy street fight with his ex-girlfriend Lisa Regina. Though Lisa's last name is the Italian word for queen, witnesses to their altercation say it was Pastore who got all queeny.

Pastore's "Sopranos" character had the dubious nickname of "Big Pussy." Could something in his acting history have inspired that name? He is on the cast lists for the following films: "Joe's Apartment," "Backstreet Dreams," "Riding In Cars With Boys."

Though he went into acting at the encouragement of Matt and Kevin Dillon, who met him at a club in New Rochelle, New York, he was working as a taxi driver when he got one of his first roles, playing a criminal on "America's Most Wanted." Once the show was broadcast, a woman who rode in his cab called the cab company after the ride to report that they had a criminal in their employ. Perhaps she had had a premonition about his attempted assault incident against Lisa Regina. (By Scott Rose)