‘Sopranos’ actor Tony Sirico, ‘Paulie Walnuts,’ dies at 79


Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Walnuts on the HBO serial
The Sopranos,
died Fri.

Tina Fineberg/AP


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Tina Fineberg/AP

Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Walnuts on the HBO series
The Sopranos,
died Friday.


Tina Fineberg/AP

LOS ANGELES — Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos” and brought his tough-guy swagger to films including “Goodfellas,” died Friday. He was 79.

Sirico died at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said his director, Bob McGowen. In that location was no immediate information on the cause of death.

A argument from Sirico’s family unit confirmed the decease of Gennaro Anthony “Tony” Sirico “with cracking sadness, just with incredible pride, dear and a whole lot of fond memories.”

McGowan, who represented Sirico for more two decades, recalled him every bit “loyal and giving,” with a strong philanthropic streak. That included helping ex-soldiers’ causes, which hit home for the Regular army veteran, his managing director said.

Steven Van Zandt, who played contrary Sirico as beau mobster Silvio Dante on “The Sopranos,” saluted him on Twitter as “legendary.”

“A larger than life character on and off screen. Gonna miss yous a lot my friend,” the role player and musician said.

Michael Imperioli, who portrayed Christopher Moltisanti on “The Sopranos,” chosen Sirico his “dear friend, colleague and partner in crime.”

“Tony was like no ane else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone i’ve ever known,” Imperioli said on Instagram.

Sirico was unconcerned virtually being cast in a cord of bad guy roles, McGowan said, most prominently that of Peter Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri in the 1999-2007 run of the acclaimed HBO drama starring James Gandolfini equally mob boss Tony Soprano. (Gandolfini died in 2013 at age 51).

“He didn’t mind playing a mob guy, but he wouldn’t play an informant,” or as Sirico put it, a “snitch,” McGowan said.

Sirico, born July 29, 1942, in New York City, grew up in the Flatbush and Bensonhurst neighborhoods where he said “every guy was trying to prove himself. You either had to take a tattoo or a bullet hole.”

“I had both,” he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1990 interview, calling himself “unstable” during that flow of his life. He was arrested repeatedly for criminal offenses, he said, and was in prison twice. In his final stint behind bars, in the 1970s, he saw a performance past a group of ex-convicts and caught the interim problems.

“I watched ’em and I idea, ‘I can practise that.’ I knew I wasn’t bad looking. And I knew I had the (guts) to stand up and (bull) people,” he told the Times. “You get a lot of practice in prison. I used to stand upward in front of these cold-blooded murderers and kidnapers — and brand ’em laugh.”

Sirico likewise was bandage outside the gangster mold, playing police officers in the films “Dead Presidents” and “Deconstructing Harry.” Amongst his other credits were Woody Allen films including “Bullets over Broadway” and “Mighty Aphrodite,” and appearances on TV serial including “Miami Vice” and voice roles on “Family Guy” and “American Dad!”

Sirico is survived by daughter Joanne Sirico Bello; son Richard Sirico; his brother, Robert Sirico, a priest; and other relatives.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/09/1110670719/sopranos-tony-sirico-dies-paulie-walnuts-obit

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