{"id":11314,"date":"2022-07-10T15:54:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T19:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314"},"modified":"2023-12-12T03:48:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T08:48:29","slug":"tony-sirico-dead-at-79-passed-away-paulie-walnuts-in-the-sopranos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314","title":{"rendered":"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played &#8216;Paulie Walnuts&#8217; in The Sopranos"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Tony Sirico has died at the age of 79. The actor, whose most enduring role was that of mobster \u201cPaulie Walnuts\u201d on HBO\u2019s <em><strong>The Sopranos<\/strong><\/em>, passed away on Friday of undisclosed causes at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\r\n<p>Sirico played roles in a number of well-known films, including <em><strong>Goodfellas, Mighty Aprhodite, Bullets Over Broadway<\/strong><\/em>, and <em><strong>Mickey Blue Eyes<\/strong><\/em> before being tapped for his best-known role. He was offered the role of Paulie Walnuts after initially auditioning to play the part of Uncle Junior in the <em><strong>Sopranos<\/strong> <\/em>series. Afterwards. Sirico was seen in <em><strong>Lilyhammer, The Grinder<\/strong><\/em>, and<em><strong> Family Guy.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n<p>Sirico grew up in a Brooklyn neighborhood where, as he put it, \u201cevery guy was trying to prove himself. You either had to have a tattoo or a bullet hole.\u201d His real-life experiences may have prepared him for his tough-guy roles: in the 1970s, the young Sirico spent several years at Sing Sing after being convicted of extortion, coercion, and felony weapons possession.<\/p>\r\n<p>He later said he was inspired to be an actor while he was incarcerated, after witnessing a performance by a troupe of ex-cons. As he recalled, \u201cI watched \u2019em and I thought, \u2018I can do that.\u2019 I knew I wasn\u2019t bad looking. And I knew I had the (guts) to stand up and (bull) people.<br><div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> online pharmacy <a href=\"http:\/\/abucm.org\/assets\/pdf\/metformin.html\">buy metformin<\/a> with best prices today in the USA <\/div>\n<br> You get a lot of practice in prison. I used to stand up in front of these cold-blooded murderers and kidnappers \u2014 and make \u2019em laugh.<br><div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> online pharmacy <a href=\"http:\/\/abucm.org\/assets\/pdf\/nolvadex.html\">buy nolvadex<\/a> with best prices today in the USA <\/div>\n<br>\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>As news of his death circulated, Sirico\u2019s co-star Michael Imperioli posted this tribute on Instagram: \u201cTony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone i\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Imperioli continued: \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Another heartfelt tribute came from Michael Gandolfini, the son of <em><strong>Sopranos<\/strong> <\/em>star James Gandolfini: \u201cTony Sirico was one of the kindest, fiercely loyal, and heartfelt men that I\u2019ve ever known. He was always Uncle Tony to me, and Tony always showed up for me and my family.<br><div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> online pharmacy <a href=\"http:\/\/abucm.org\/assets\/pdf\/xifaxan.html\">buy xifaxan<\/a> with best prices today in the USA <\/div>\n<br> I\u2019ll deeply miss his pinches on my cheek, and his infectious laugh. He was a phenomenal actor and an even better man.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p>Sirico is survived by daughter Joanne Sirico Bello and son Richard Sirico. Also surviving is his brother, Rev. Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tony Sirico has died at the age of 79. The actor, whose most enduring role was that of mobster \u201cPaulie Walnuts\u201d on HBO\u2019s The Sopranos, passed away on Friday of undisclosed causes at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sirico played roles in a number of well-known films, including Goodfellas, Mighty Aprhodite, Bullets&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[10435,5782,10434,10436,10437,10433,2202,10432],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played &#039;Paulie Walnuts&#039; in The Sopranos | Cinema Daily US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played &#039;Paulie Walnuts&#039; in The Sopranos | Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tony Sirico has died at the age of 79. The actor, whose most enduring role was that of mobster \u201cPaulie Walnuts\u201d on HBO\u2019s The Sopranos, passed away on Friday of undisclosed causes at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sirico played roles in a number of well-known films, including Goodfellas, Mighty Aprhodite, Bullets...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-10T19:54:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-12T08:48:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Tony-Sirico.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1054\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1288\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edward Moran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edward Moran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314\",\"name\":\"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played 'Paulie Walnuts' in The Sopranos | Cinema Daily US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Tony-Sirico.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-10T19:54:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-12T08:48:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Tony-Sirico.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Tony-Sirico.jpg\",\"width\":1054,\"height\":1288},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played &#8216;Paulie Walnuts&#8217; in The Sopranos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cinema Daily US\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc\",\"name\":\"Edward Moran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Edward Moran\"},\"description\":\"Edward Moran began his journalistic career many decades ago as a theater and cinema reviewer for Show Business and the New York Theater Review. More recently he contributed film reviews to hosokinema.com and Movie Sleuth. His writings have appeared in publications as diverse as the Times Literary Supplement, Publishers Weekly, the Paris Review, and the Massachusetts Review. Moran also edited a memoir by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Christine Choy. He served as literary advisor to her film Hyam Plutzik: American Poet, which was the keynote film in the American Perspectives series at the 2007 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.cinemadailyus.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played 'Paulie Walnuts' in The Sopranos | Cinema Daily US","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=11314","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tony Sirico Passed Away at 79, Played 'Paulie Walnuts' in The Sopranos | Cinema Daily US","og_description":"Tony Sirico has died at the age of 79. 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