R.I.P. Tony Sirico, Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos
Turning to acting after a long prison stint, Sirico became a key part of one of the greatest crime dramas of all time
Aux News Tony Sirico
Tony Sirico has died. Best known for his role as loud-mouthed, frequently buffoonish gangster Paulie Walnuts on all six seasons of HBO’s The Sopranos, Sirico came by his underworld acting chops honestly: He was first introduced to the craft while serving a stint in prison after a multi-year career as a stick-up man who targeted New York’s nightclubs, before an encounter with a visiting company of ex-convicts-turned-actors drastically altered the course of his life. In addition to his role on the legendary HBO drama, Sirico appeared in Goodfellas, in the casts of several Woody Allen films, and, somewhat improbably, in a multi-episode arc on Family Guy. Per Variety, he died earlier today. Sirico was 79.
Born Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. in 1942, Sirico spent the first 30 years of his life building up an arrest record nearly as impressive as his eventual acting resumé, ultimately being arrested 28 times on a variety of charges, and serving a total of five years of prison time. During his last stint in prison, he encountered a group called The Theater Of The Forgotten, former convicts turn actors who toured prisons. “I saw them, and right there and then I knew what I wanted to do,” Sirico said in a 2001 interview. “It just hit me. I said, ‘I can do that.’ And when I got out I called someone who had been a friend of mine for many years, Richie Castellano, who had played Fat Clemenza in The Godfather. I told Richie I wanted to be an actor.”
After Castellano helped Sirico get his first role (in 1974's Crazy Joe), he began steadily working, and didn’t really stop for the next several decades. His character names from this period paint a picture of the course of his career: Names like “Tough Guy,” “Jacko,” and “Rocco” dot his resumé—the latter in Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, the first of four films the writer/director would cast Sirico in. (He also scored a few roles on the “enforcement” side of the law, including playing a cop in Albert Hughes’ Dead Presidents.)
Sirico’s career changed forever, though, in 1999, when—after four long auditions, and a failed shot at the role of Junior Soprano—David Chase selected him to play Tony Soprano’s most enduring lieutenant, for a series that no one, at the time, realized would become one of the most influential shows of its generation. As Paulie Walnuts, Sirico frequently got to walk the line between The Sopranos’ darker and lighter selves; delivering the funniest lines of an episode one minute, and brutal menace the next. In showcase episodes like fan-favorite “Pine Barrens”—and especially in his relationship with Michael Imperioli’s Christopher—Sirico consistently demonstrated that an absurd, often goofy gangster was never the same thing as a safe gangster; Sirico’s ability to project an almost child-like sense of aggrievement at the world only served to highlight the moments when that same sensibility curdled into threats or violence.
After The Sopranos, Sirico was, well, “Tony Sirico from The Sopranos”; his list of roles afterward are dotted with parts paying homage to his most famous job. (Including playing mobster-types alongside both the Muppets and the Fairly OddParents, and appearing in his old co-star Steven Van Zandt’s Lilyhammer.) And, yes, he had a three-episode run on Family Guy, voicing Vinny, the Griffin family’s new dog.
Imperioli posted a tribute to his old co-star on Instagram today, writing:
Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone I’ve ever known. I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad. But mostly good. And we had a lot of laughs. 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. He is truly irreplaceable. I send love to his family, friends and his many many fans. He was beloved and will never be forgotten. Heartbroken today.
In a social media post from his family, they state that Sirico is survived by “his two children, Joanne Sirico Bello and Richard Sirico, as well as grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and other relatives.”
51 Comments
godDAMN the fake gangsters are having a rough couple of months. RIP Paulie Walnuts, loved your hair and attitude. Hearing him call Michael Imperioli “Chrissy” on the Sopranos never failed to crack me up.
I made my peace Chrissy!
I will literally explode if I don’t point out that was a Silvio line.
I literally just rewatched that scene and yeah it was Silvio saying that. Although Paulie going on about Christopher being weak and pathetic is still golden.
We need to protect Joe Pesci from this curse at all costs.
First Jimmy Caan, now Paulie? I tellya, Ton. Dese tings happen in Trees.
INDEED. I’d also include Pacino and Deniro because they’re up there too.
fwiw Sirico wasn’t 100% “fake” – 28 arrests and 2 stints in prison, with first arrest at age 7 for stealing nickels from a newsstand
I’m glad he found something legitimate and constructive to do with his life, but have to admit that someone arrested 28 times for robberies and such should probably have spent more than 5 cumulative years in jail.
Sirico actually claims this is part of how he knew he could be an actor, as he was good at BSing his way out of ultimately getting charged for whatever he was arrested for. . iow only 2 of his arrests actually ended up going anywhere. also worth noting is that James Caan (ironically, quoted in the same LA Times portrait of Sirico from way back in 1990!) suggests that while Sirico is a genuine tough guy, a lot of his “stories” should be taken with a grain of salt, fwiw
first arrest at age SEVEN…on the list of these actors (Caan, Liotta, Sirico) I’d least like to fuck with in real life, he’s definitely at the top LOL
hollywood- giving otherwise untalented italian tough guys acting work since 1972
Caan was Jewish LOL
true, was thinking more of the siricos, van zants and frank vincents of the world
Damn, right when I finish a rewatch of the series too!
RIP
He was great on The Sopranos and all but nothing beats his appearance on The Bert and Ernie Christmas Special:
How have I never seen this? OMG, “Fade to Black!” Heh heh heh.
Commendatori…
He was to me, the best character on the series. Endlessly entertaining yet also incredibly violent. But its the fun parts people remember most. He is the speaker of the absolute best line in the series from Pine Barrens. “He killed 16 Chekoslovakians! And he’s an interior decorator!” Farewell Paulie, one of the greats.
His house looked like shit.
But you could eat maple walnut ice cream out of it.
Absolutely the funniest character on the show.
He was my favorite on the show. His little quirks were hilarious. Was he the germaphobe? I cannot remember. Or was that Sil?
I think it was Sil. His line to Christophah at his intervention still kills me – “When I came to open up one morning, there you were with your head half in the toilet, your hair was in the toilet water… disgusting.”
He was.
Him throwing a chair and yelling at ghosts is like my second favorite moment ever after the entirety of Pine Barrens.
Fuckin’ queers!
I hope his little spot in heaven consists of a good seat out front of Satriale’s Pork Store with that aluminum foil thing around his neck so he can work on his tan. The heart and soul of the whole damn show. Rest in peace.
Riposa in pace, Signore.. My favorite thing about Sirico is he had that great character actor ability to make you believe he and Paulie were one. When his eyes would go cold and/or he became angry, you felt it to the bone.
Kind of a tangent, but the “jump scare” of Paulie seeing the Virgin Mary in the Bing (I forget what season) scared the shit out of me when I first watched it.
Oh god me too. That was so sudden that it made me jump.
My favorite Paulie moment was when was invited to sit at the older kids’ table at the funeral and immediately unzips his pants and rubs his stomach. “Boy, did I eat. How are you, sweetheart?”My wife’s favorite moment is when his ma/aunt’s friend kicked him in the balls. Goodnight, my sweet prints. May you do 6 tousand years’a purgatory standin on your head.
Between Sirico, James Caan, and Gregory Itzin, it’s a bad week to be an actor who brilliantly played criminals.
Plus Liotta a few weeks ago
Fuck, President Charles Logan died? Was it Jack Bauer or Logan’s crazy ex-wife?
He also may have seriously affected The Sopranos’ overall story arc when he only agreed to take the role if Paulie never ratted out the family.
Not really. It’s not as if there was a shortage of characters who ratted. I swear, there were scenes that should have had feedback drowning out the dialogue, what with all the wires being worn.
I might be imagining this (it’s been a while since I’ve watched season 6) but I always felt like at the end of the series they were dropping hints that Paulie might be compromised.
Yeah, I’ve read that possibility. I think that was probably intentional and there were a lot of intentional “maybes” so there’s no one real answer as to what went down.
At the time I read it as one of the ways the show was illustrating that, for Tony, the cycle never ends. There will always a new threat out there at every turn, forever – which is also how some people interpret the ending.
Im fine with his last scene being the cat he keeps freaking out about walking up and sitting next to him.
Sentenced to 6000 years in purgatory, which is nothing in eternity terms. He can do that standing on his head.
Steve Schirripa’s impression of Tony Sirico was the best thing about Talking Sopranos. Clearly a lot of affection for a man they never failed to describe as slightly ridiculous.
RIP, but:
Though he’ll forever be known as Paulie Gualtieri, I can’t help but recall when I first noticed him in James Toback’s The Big Bang (1989). In this interview he is both frightening and disarmingly introspective.
Poor guy. Now he’s gonna have to do his 6,000 years in Purgatory.
I forgot he was in Dead Presidents. An unfairly forgotten gem.
Whaddya gonna do.
I liked the way he pointed.