Tony Sirico

Tony Sirico, who portrayed an aging and wisecracking gangster on the HBO hit show "The Sopranos," has died, his manager said. He was 79.

On "The Sopranos," Paulie Walnuts was a source of street wisdom and keen observation. The Brooklyn native was never a gangster, but he was no stranger to crime. It's the pride thing." " ... It's not just the money. He also had a small role in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film "Goodfellas." "Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone i’ve ever known," Imperioli said.

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.

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.”

The actor was known for his role as chief henchman Peter Paul 'Paulie Walnuts' Gualtieri.

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 added: "I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad. Without revealing a cause of death, Michael wrote on Instagram: "It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime, the great TONY SIRICO has passed away today.

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.

Los Angeles (AP) -- Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos” and brought his tough-guy swagger to films ...

Actor Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnuts on the HBO series "The Sopranos" and was frequently cast in Woody Allen ...

... 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. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Actor Tony Sirico, best known for his role as a Mafia henchman on The Sopranos, has died aged 79.

Speaking to the LA Times in 1990, he said: "Where I grew up, every guy was trying to prove himself. He is truly irreplaceable." A great, loyal client," his manager Bob McGowan wrote on Friday. "He would do anything to help people in need."

Sirico played the violent and loyal right-hand man to mobster Tony Soprano.

"He was that person," McGowan said of Sirico's character on show. "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.

Tributes are pouring in for actor Tony Sirico, best known for his role in The Sopranos.

Deepest condolences 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. "I will miss him forever. He was beloved and will never be forgotten. And we had a lot of laughs. "I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad.

Actor Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnuts on the HBO series "The Sopranos" and was frequently cast in Woody Allen ...

... 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."

Actor Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnuts on the HBO series "The Sopranos" and was frequently cast in Woody Allen ...

... 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."

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.