Tony Sirico, who played impeccably dressed mobster Polly Walnuts in The Sopranos and brought his tough guy to life in films including Goodfellas, died on Friday. He was 79 years old. Sirico died at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, his manager Bob McGowen said. There was no immediate information about the cause of death.
A statement from Sirico’s family confirmed the death of Gennaro Anthony Tony Sirico with great sadness but with incredible pride, love and many fond memories.
McGowan, who represented Sirico for more than two decades, remembered him as loyal and giving, with a strong philanthropic streak. His manager said that this included helping the cause of ex-servicemen, who came to the home for the army veteran.
McGowan said, Sirico was unconcerned about being cast in bad guy roles, most prominently Peter Paul Paulie Walnuts Gualtieri in the acclaimed 1999–2007 HBO drama starring James Gandolfini as mob boss Tony Soprano.
McGowan said he didn’t mind playing a mob man, but he wouldn’t play an informer, or as Sirico put it, a snitch.
Sirico, born July 29, 1942 in New York City, grew up in the Flatbush and Bensonhurst neighborhoods, where he said “every man was trying to prove himself. You either had to get a tattoo or a bullet hole.”
I had both, he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1990 interview, calling himself unstable during that period of his life. He was arrested repeatedly for criminal offences, and was in prison twice, he said. In his last stint behind bars, in the 1970s, he saw a performance by a group of former convicts and caught the acting bug.
I looked at them and I thought, I can do this. I knew I was not bad looking. And I knew I had (the guts) to stand up and (bull) people,” he told the Times. “You get a lot of practice in prison. I used to stand in front of these cold-blooded killers and kidnappers and make them laugh.
Sirico was also cast outside the gangster mold, playing police officers in the films Dead Presidents and Deconstructing Harry. Her other credits included films by Woody Allen, including Bullets and Mighty Aphrodite on Broadway, and appearances in TV series including Miami Vice, and voice roles on Family Guy and American Dad!
Sirico is survived by daughter Joan Sirico Bello; son Richard Sirico; his brother, Robert Sirico, a priest; and other relatives.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh newswatch top videos And live TV Here.