Actor Tony Sirico, best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultiere in the “Sopranos” died at 79 on Friday, according to fellow “Sopranos” cast-member Michael Imperioli.
“It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime, the great TONY SIRICO has passed away today,” wrote Imperioli on Instagram. “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,” he continued. “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.”
Sirico was a Brooklyn native, growing up in East Flatbush and Bensonhurst.
He led a real life of crime before playing gangsters on television and the silver screen.
Court records dug up in 2001 by The Smoking Gun, a publication that highlights novelty crime stories, showed Sirico was convicted for shaking down a nightclub owner.
During the sentencing the judge noted “his associates for the past two years have been men with extensive criminal records,” and that “the defendant has been virtually unemployed for the last couple of years, yet he drives expensive cars, wears expensive clothes.”
After serving a sentence in Sing Sing, Sirico got his first break as an actor in the 1974 mob movie “Big Joe.”
He’d play mobsters for the rest of his career in movies like “Goodfellas.”
He’s survived by his two children, Joanne Sirico Bello and Richard Sirico, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and other relatives, according to a Facebook post from his brother Robert Sirico.
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