Richard Romanus, who built his character acting career with a tough guy persona in film and television, has died at 80 at a hospital in Volos, Greece. No cause was given by his son, Robert.

Romanus had a string of memorable roles during his long career. He was Harry Canyon, the cab driver from Heavy Metal, and Richard Lapenna, the husband of Dr. Melfi, in “The Sopranos.” He was loanshark Michael Longo in Mean Streets.

His TV résumé includes Mission: Impossible, Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-0, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Strike Force, and more across the ’70s.

In films, Romanus appeared in Sitting Ducks (1980), Protocol (1984), The Couch Trip (1988), Oscar (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Cops and Robbersons (1994), Nailed (2001) and The Young Black Stallion (2003).

In his later years, Romanus and his wife moved to the Greek town of Skiathos, and he wrote about the experience in Act III: A Small Island in the Aegean,...