Actor Tony Sirico at the 2nd annual Steven’s Ball Police Festival in New York City on December 20, 2016.
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Actor Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnut in the HBO series “The Sopranos” and was frequently cast in Woody Allen films, died on Friday at the age of 79 , his family said.
Sirico had a starring role in the HBO television series that began in 1999 and became an influential hit early in the era of prestige television.
Although he played smaller parts in six Woody Allen films between 1994 and 2016, Sirico was not well known prior to his breakout role, in which he was the captain of the character’s crime family. Tony Soprano himself, played by the late James Gandolfini.
The Walnut character Paulie is a hardened criminal who often shows kindness, sometimes helping in comic book situations, but always loyal to his boss.
“A larger-than-life character on and off screen. Will miss you so much, my friend,” Sopranos co-star Steven Van Zandt said on Twitter.
Sirico often plays Italian-American mobsters, including a small role in “Goodfellas,” Martin Scorsese’s popular and critically acclaimed 1990 film. Sirico also starred in a comic series as the voice of the actor. Vinny the talking dog from the animated show “Family Guy.”
His credits in Woody Allen films include “Bullets Over Broadway” from 1994, “Mighty Aphrodite” from 1995, “Everybody Says I Love You” from 1996, “Deconstruct Harry” from 1997, ” Celebrities” since 1998 and in his post- Sopranos fame, “Café Society” of 2016.
“It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and so many fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico would like to inform you of his death on the morning of the 8th. July 2022”, his brother. , Robert Sirico, a Roman Catholic priest, posted on Facebook.
His brother is survived by two children plus an unknown number of grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and others.
No cause of death was reported.
Born in Brooklyn on July 29, 1942, Sirico served 20 months in prison for gun charges in the early 1970s, according to the movie database IMDB.com.
His first film role was in 1974’s “Crazy Joe”, about the Mafia character Joey Gallo, but his main role was in the HBO series created by David Chase.
“When I first read David Chase’s script, I knew it was special,” Sirico is quoted as saying on IMDB. “This is what I’ve been looking for all my life. …I knew right away this was a role to kill.”
