American actor Tony Sirico, best known for playing Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri in The Sopranos, has died at the age of 79, his family and a former colleague announced on Friday. Sirico played minor gangster roles in television and film for decades before being cast in his 50s as the eccentric and sometimes brutal Paulie, becoming one of the show’s most memorable characters.
“It is with great sadness, but incredible pride, love and many fond memories that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico would like to inform you of his passing on the morning of July 8, 2022.“, his family said in a statement on Facebook.
Another ‘Sopranos’ star, Michael Imperioli, added: “It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime, the great Tony Sirico passed away today.”. “Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as tall as anyone I’ve ever known. (I’m) heartbroken today“, wrote on Instagram Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti.
Born into an Italian family in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, Sirico was associated with a mafia family, that of the Colombo, and was arrested 28 times in his youth, from the age of 7, reports variety. “Where I grew up, every guy has to prove himself. You either need a tattoo or a bullet hole. I had both.“, he said in the book “The Sopranos by Sofilm” (Capricci editions). He had caught the comedy virus in prison after seeing a troupe of former convicts perform.
“Where I grew up, every guy has to prove himself. You either need a tattoo or a bullet hole. I had both.”
To capture the level of “street cred” of Tony Sirico, here is his portrait in “Les Soprano by Sofilm” (Capricci editions): pic.twitter.com/SwZWhLzVl8— SOFILM (@So_Film) July 9, 2022
He played several small roles as a thug from the late 1970s, appearing in series like kojak and miami viceand mafia-themed movies, including Freedmen by Martin Scorsese, and Mickey Blue Eyes and Kelly Makin. He also shot for Woody Allen, James Toback, Martin James Mangold or John Landis.
I take this opportunity to show this mind-blowing photo of Tony Sirico, from the time when he was really a delinquent, before becoming an actor. RIP. pic.twitter.com/Eaho8kYSvC
— Daniel Andreyev (@kamuirobotics) July 8, 2022
Sirico was in his fifties when he was cast in his best-known role in The Sopranos, HBO’s groundbreaking series that explored the private lives of a New Jersey criminal group. His character, Paulie, delivered many of the show’s most memorable lines, displaying both a playful humor and a vicious loyalty to boss Tony Soprano.