Tony Sirico

Infobox actor
name = Tony Sirico


imagesize =
caption = Tony Sirico
birthdate = birth date and age|1942|7|29
location = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
height = 5"11"
deathdate =
birthname = Gennaro Anthony Sirico, Jr.
othername =
homepage =
notable role = Paulie Gualtieri in "The Sopranos"

Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (born July 29 1942), better known as Tony Sirico, is an American character actor who is most famous for his role as Paulie Gualtieri in the hit television series "The Sopranos".

Background and career

Sirico was born in Midwood, Brooklyn to Neapolitan parents.

Sirico has played gangsters in a number of films, including "Mob Queen", "Gangsters", "Love and Money", "Fingers", "The Last Fight", "Goodfellas", "Innocent Blood", "Bullets Over Broadway", "Mighty Aphrodite", "Gotti", "Cop Land", and "Mickey Blue Eyes". He also played a policeman in the film "Dead Presidents". [ Sirico's most acclaimed acting job was that of Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in David Chase's Emmy award winning drama, The Sopranos. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0802831/ Tony Sirico ] ]

Sirico's brother, Robert Sirico, is a priest and co-founder of the free-market Acton Institute. [ [http://www.acton.org/press/releases.php?release=74] ] Before turning to acting, Sirico was reportedly a mob associate of the Colombo crime family serving under Carmine "Junior" Persico and had been arrested twenty-eight times. There is a Sopranos reference to this fact when Paulie says "I made it through the seventies by the skin of my balls when the Colombos were goin' at it." ["Artie's Goose Is Coked", New York Post, May 2, 2006] In 1967, he was sent to prison for robbing a Brooklyn after hours club, but was released after serving thirteen months. In 1971, he pled guilty to felony weapons possession and was sentenced to an "indeterminate" prison term of up to four years, of which Sirico ended up serving twenty months. According to a court transcript, at the time of his sentencing, he also had pending charges for drug possession. [ [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/sirico/sirico.html From Sing Sing to Bada Bing] , thesmokinggun.com, accessed July 17, 2007.]

He currently lives alone in Brooklyn, New York. His mother passed away in 2003.

Involvement in politics

Sirico has stated that politically he is a "far-to-the-right Republican." [ [http://www.rockawayrepublicans.com/20040715minutes.htm The Rockaway Republicans ] ] He donated $1000 to Rudolph Giuliani's presidential campaign. [http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-usrudy145292920jul14,0,3125316,print.story]

In popular culture

Other acting work by Sirico:
* Sirico did the voice for Big Daddy (a mafia fairy) in the series "The Fairly OddParents".
* Sirico has also done a voice-over for a "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode.
* Sirico's voice is used for his TV character in the video game "".
* Sirico has been cast as a bit player in Woody Allen movies.
* Sirico also appeared in stacker-2 commercials with some featuring the superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment.
* Sirico played the lead role of the boss in the video "Slang Editorial" by Cappadonna of the Wu-Tang Clan. At the end of the video, Sirico was murdered by Cappadonna.
* Sirico also played in an episode of "Miami Vice".
* Sirico played a mafia boss in an early '90s Dunkin Donuts commercial.
* Sirico has recently played Paulie Walnuts in a couple Denny's commercials.
* Sirico will be in the upcoming film " [http://www.thesnoconestand.com The Sno Cone Stand Inc.] "
*In her recent television series, "State of the Union", Tracey Ullman parodies Sirico as a foul-mouthed actor, who is "expanding his range" after the success of "The Sopranos"' character.

References

External links

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