Tony Sirico

The actor, who appeared in all six seasons of The Sopranos alongside James Gandolfini, died on Friday morning.

The show’s creator David Chase instead offered him the role of Paulie Gualtieri, which Sirico accepted with the condition that his character “would not become a rat”. We found a groove as Christopher and Paulie and I am proud to say I did a lot of my best and most fun work with my dear pal Tony. I will miss him forever.” And we had a lot of laughs.

Sopranos actor Tony Sirico, who played Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri on the hit HBO show, has died aged 79,...

His past is reported to have influenced his acting career and he was well known for his portrayal of unsavoury characters in films. "It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony 'Tony' Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022," the statement read. The actor, who appeared in all six seasons of The Sopranos alongside James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, died on Friday morning.

"Sopranos' star Tony Sirico passed away Friday, according to his co-star Michael Imperioli.

"I saw them, and right there and then I knew what I wanted to do. "I grew up in Bensonhurst, where there were a lot of Mob-type people. And we had a lot of laughs," Imperioli wrote in his post.

Actor Tony Sirico, who is best known for playing henchman Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri on HBO's "The Sopranos," has died, according to his manager ...

"Tony Sirico was one of the kindest, fiercely loyal, and heartfelt men that I've ever known," he wrote. He was a phenomenal actor and an even better man." "He was always Uncle Tony to me, and Tony always showed up for me and my family. "I said, 'Give me the bad news.' He said, 'You didn't get Uncle Junior. But I have something in mind. . "I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad. And we had a lot of laughs."

The actor, who appeared in all six seasons of The Sopranos alongside James Gandolfini, died on Friday morning, his family said.

I send love to his family, friends and his many many fans. Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano, said Sirico was “tough and strong, yet sweet and a real artist” and that she was “lucky to have known” him. “I will miss him forever. “A stand up guy who always had my back and who loved my children and my parents.” Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti on the show, said he was “heartbroken” and that he was proud to have done “a lot of my best work” with Sirico. “He was a very loyal client of 25 years and he’s an ex-army vet and always gave to charities,” McGowan told PA.

Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos and brought his tough-guy swagger to films including Goodfellas, ...

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 had both," he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1990 interview, calling himself "unstable" during that period of his life. 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. I used to stand up in front of these cold-blooded murderers and kidnapers — and make 'em laugh." In his last stint behind bars, in the 1970s, he saw a performance by a group of ex-convicts and caught the acting bug. That included helping ex-soldiers' causes, which hit home for the Army veteran, his manager said.

US actor Tony Sirico, best known for The Sopranos, has died, aged 79. Sirico had been living with dementia for the last few years in an assisted living ...

Sirico played Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri on The Sopranos in all six seasons alongside James Gandolfini and Edie Falco. He originally auditioned for the role of Uncle Junior, but Dominic Chianese landed the role. US actor Tony Sirico, best known for The Sopranos, has died, aged 79. US actor Tony Sirico, best known for The Sopranos, has died.

Actor Tony Sirico, known for his role as Paulie Walnuts on "The Sopranos," died at age 79, his manager confirmed to media outlets.

“In our neighborhood, if you weren’t carrying a gun, it was like you were the rabbit during rabbit-hunting season.” Sirico was a natural fit for the part, having grown up in the Italian mob world himself. “I will miss him forever.”

Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri on The Sopranos, has died aged 79. His death was announced in a Facebook post by his ...

Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri on The Sopranos, has died aged 79. But his defining role was as the wise-cracking Paulie in The Sopranos. Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri on The Sopranos, dies aged 79

Tony Sirico, the actor who played Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in the hit TV show the Sopranos, has died at the age of 79.

His past is reported to have influenced his acting career and he was well known for his portrayal of unsavoury characters in films. "It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony 'Tony' Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022," the statement read. The actor, who appeared in all six seasons of the Sopranos alongside James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, died on Friday morning.

Actor Tony Sirico, best known for playing the tempestuous Paulie on The Sopranos, has died at age 79. Tributes are pouring in.

Deepest condolescences to the family.” We found a groove as Christopher and Paulie and I am proud to say I did a lot of my best and most fun work with my dear pal Tony. He was beloved and will never be forgotten. Gonna miss you a lot my friend. I send love to his family, friends and his many, many fans. And we had a lot of laughs.

Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri on The Sopranos, has died aged 79. His death was announced in a Facebook post by his ...

Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri on The Sopranos, has died aged 79. But his defining role was as the wise-cracking Paulie in The Sopranos. Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri on The Sopranos, dies aged 79

Sopranos actor Tony Sirico, who played Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri on the hit HBO show, has died aged 79,...

His past is reported to have influenced his acting career and he was well known for his portrayal of unsavoury characters in films. "It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony 'Tony' Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022," the statement read. The actor, who appeared in all six seasons of The Sopranos alongside James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, died on Friday morning.

A familiar face in Woody Allen movies, the actor became widely know for his portrayal of Paulie Walnuts on the hit HBO series.

“I was this 30-year-old ex-con villain sitting in a class filled with fresh-faced, serious drama students,” Mr. Sirico recalled in the Daily News interview. Mr. Sirico followed that with more than a decade of small television and movie roles, capped by his part as the flashy mobster Tony Stacks in “Goodfellas” (1990). He brought at least one admirable lesson from the mob world to “The Sopranos.” He insisted that his character never be portrayed as a rat, someone who would snitch on his crime family. He was a boxing trainer in “Mighty Aphrodite” (1995), an escaped convict in “Everyone Says I Love You” (1996), a matter-of-fact jailhouse cop in “Deconstructing Harry” (1997) and a gun-toting gangster on Coney Island in “Wonder Wheel” (2017). Once “The Sopranos” hit the air in 1999, it became enormously and widely popular. “When I watched them, I said to myself, ‘I can do that,’” he told The Daily News in 1999. When the “Sopranos” cast appeared in a group shot on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2001, Paulie stood with a baseball bat casually slung over his right shoulder. He worked in construction for a while but soon yielded to temptation. Paulie was the kind of guy who would participate in an intervention for a drug addict, and when it was his turn to speak, punch the guy in the face. There was an air about them that was very intriguing, especially to a kid.” He hated being stuck with an almost $900 restaurant check but could appreciate a tasty ketchup packet on a cold night in the Pine Barrens when there was nothing else to eat. He appeared in several of them, beginning with “Bullets Over Broadway” (1994), in which he played the right-hand man of a powerful gangster turned theater producer.

Sirico played a major role in the HBO drama that started in 1999 and became an influential hit early in the era of prestige television.

... I knew right away this was a role to kill for." Sirico often played Italian-American mobsters, including a small part in "Goodfellas," Martin Scorsese's popular and critical hit from 1990. Sirico also took a comic turn voicing the talking dog Vinny on the animated show "Family Guy."

Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos and brought his tough-guy swagger to films including Goodfellas, ...

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His role as a mobster in 'The Sopranos' was modeled in part on his earlier life as a shakedown artist who served time in prison.

When Mr. Sirico took the role of Paulie Walnuts on “The Sopranos,” he said he would do anything except rat out his friends as an informant — in part because he still lived in his old Brooklyn neighborhood. “When he saw me, he tore up the ticket and asked for an autographed picture, which I carry in the trunk … In one year, it’s like I got a life transplant. “I was a pistol-packing guy,” he told the Times. “The first time I went away to prison, they searched me to see if I had a gun — and I had three of ’em on me. “I ran out of my local OTB” — an off-track betting booth for horse races — “and a cop was putting a ticket under the wipers of my double-parked car,” Mr. Sirico told the New York Daily News in 2000. As a teenager, he was shot in the leg and back when he kissed another boy’s girlfriend. Mr. Sirico once said, “If Paulie can’t curse, he can’t talk,” and he delivered some of the show’s funniest lines, always in a serious, deadpan style, usually punctuated by profanity. He was an extra in the 1974 organized crime film “Crazy Joe,” then began to get parts in commercials and TV shows, usually cast as a crook or a cop. His character killed more people than any other during the course of the show — nine — but there was much more to “The Sopranos” than mob violence. And then there was his hair: a pompadour first sculpted into place in the ’50s, now highlighted by two wings of silver slicked back on the sides. Mr. Sirico wore a pinkie ring in real life, the same as Paulie. When the show’s wardrobe staff picked out a shirt for him, he said he had one just like it at home. Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. was born July 29, 1942, in Brooklyn and grew up in the heavily Italian Bensonhurst section. Mr. Sirico was 79 when he died July 8 at an assisted-living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Sirico died at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said his manager, Bob McGowen. There was no immediate information on the cause of ...

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 up in front of these cold-blooded murderers and kidnapers — and make ’em laugh.” “I had both,” he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1990 interview, calling himself ”unstable” during that period of his life. 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. Michael Imperioli, who portrayed Christopher Moltisanti on “The Sopranos,” called Sirico his “dear friend, colleague and partner in crime.” LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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.