Sirico played a major role in the HBO drama that began in 1999 and became an influential hit early in the era of prestige television.
Although he had minor roles in six Woody Allen films between 1994 and 2016, Sirico was not particularly well known before his breakthrough role, in which he was a captain in the crime family of lead character Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini.
Paulie Walnuts’ character was a rock-solid criminal who was periodically friendly, sometimes for crazy comic relief with malapropisms, but always loyal to the boss.
“A larger-than-life character on and off screen. I’m going to miss you dearly, my friend,” Sopranos co-star Steven Van Zandt said on Twitter.
Sirico often played Italian-American mobsters, including a small role in “Goodfellas,” Martin Scorsese’s popular and critical 1990 hit. Sirico also took a comedic turn by voicing the talking dog Vinny in the animated show “Family Guy.”
His credits in Woody Allen films include 1994’s “Bullets Over Broadway”, 1995’s “Mighty Aphrodite”, 1996’s Everyone Says I Love You, 1997’s “Deconstructing Harry”, 1998’s “Celebrity” and in his post-Sopranos fame, “Café Society” of 2016.
“It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and many fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico wishes to inform you of his passing on the morning of July 8, 2022,” said his brother. , Robert Sirico, a Roman Catholic priest, posted on Facebook.
He is survived by two children plus an unspecified number of grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and others, his brother said.
No cause of death was reported.
Born on July 29, 1942 in Brooklyn, Sirico spent 20 months in prison in the early 1970s on charges of gun possession, according to the movie database IMDB.com.
His first film role came in 1974’s “Crazy Joe”, about the mob figure Joey Gallo, but his defining role was in the HBO series created by David Chase.
“When I first read David Chase’s script, I knew this was special,” Sirico told IMDB. “This is what I’ve been looking for all my life. … I knew right away that this was a part to kill for.”