As a young man, Tony Sirico embarked on a career as a criminal, later impersonating bad guys only on screen. He took on his prime role in 1999 in the hit series "Sopranos", in which he embodied the mafioso Paulie Gualiutieri. Now the actor is dying in a nursing home.
The US actor Tony Sirico, best known for the mafia series "The Sopranos", is dead. His longtime manager Bob McGowan said he died on Friday (local time) in a nursing home in the US state of Florida. The cause of death is not yet known. However, Sirico has suffered from dementia for several years, McGowan said. The actor was 79 years old.
In the hit series "The Sopranos" (1999 to 2007), about the machinations of a mafia family in New Jersey, Sirico embodied the mafioso Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri. In his role he was known as a brutal criminal, but also for his great loyalty to mafia boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).
The New York-born Italian-American had a criminal past and mafia connections himself. He was charged with robbery and drug possession, among other things. He served two prison sentences in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the local theater group he discovered his talent for acting. In the decades that followed, he starred in dozens of film and television productions. Martin Scorsese brought him in front of the camera for the mafia drama "Good Fellas" in 1990. Director Woody Allen gave Sirico frequent supporting roles, including in films such as Bullets Over Broadway, Aphrodite's Love, Cafe Society and Wonder Wheel.
