Tony Sirico
| Tony Sirico | |
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| Born | Genaro Anthony Sirico, Jr. July 24, 1942 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Actor/Voice Actor |
| Years active | 1970s—present |
Genaro Anthony "Tony" Sirico, Jr. (born July 24, 1942) is an American character actor who is most famous for his role as Paulie Gualtieri in the television series The Sopranos.
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[edit] Background and career
Sirico was born in Midwood, Brooklyn. Sirico has played gangsters in a number of films, including Goodfellas, Mob Queen, Gangsters, Love and Money, Fingers, The One Man Jury, Defiance, The Last Fight, Innocent Blood, Bullets Over Broadway, The Pick-up Artist, Mighty Aphrodite, Gotti, Cop Land, Turn of Faith, and Mickey Blue Eyes. He also played policemen in the films Dead Presidents and Deconstructing Harry.[1] Recently he told the host of a Las Vegas radio show he would be playing the role of an ill-tempered high school football coach in an upcoming comedy for kids called Sports Heaven. He is currently set to star in the upcoming drama Zarra's Law written and produced by Joseph Scarpinito for Scarpe Diem Productions.
Before turning to acting, Sirico was reportedly a fast-rising 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 lived through the seventies by the skin of my balls when the Colombos were goin' at it."[2] 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. In an interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Sirico said that during his imprisonment, he was visited by an acting troupe composed of ex-cons, which inspired him to give acting a try. According to a court transcript, at the time of his sentencing, he also had pending charges for drug possession.[3] Sirico appeared in a 1989 documentary about life, The Big Bang by James Toback, in which he discussed his earlier life.
He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, who lived with Sirico, died in 2003. Sirico's brother, Robert Sirico, is a Catholic priest and co-founder of the free-market Acton Institute.[4]
[edit] Politics
Sirico has stated that politically he is a "far-to-the-right Republican."[5] He donated $1,200 to Rudolph Giuliani's presidential campaign.[6]
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Other acting work by Sirico
- Advertisements
- Starred in a commercial for one of Sweden's biggest papers "Aftonbladet", which was promoting The Sopranos.
- Several commercials for Denny's, playing both a mobster and a police detective.
- Played a mafia boss in an early '90s Dunkin' Donuts commercial.
- Appeared in a commercial for Netflix in 2006 playing a mobster.
- Appeared in "Stacker-2 Muscle Builder" commercials featuring the superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment.
- Films
- Bit players in Woody Allen movies.
- Games
- Voice used for his TV character in the video game The Sopranos: Road to Respect.
- Music
- Played the lead role of a mob boss in the video "Slang Editorial" by Cappadonna of the Wu-Tang Clan. At the end of the video, Sirico's character is killed by Cappadonna.
- Television
- Appeared in the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Fake Name", playing half of the mobster duo Matty and Scotty with fellow Sopranos actor Louis Lombardi.
- The voice for Wanda's father, Big Daddy (a mafia fairy), in the series The Fairly OddParents.
- Played in an episode of Miami Vice.
- Voice-over for a SpongeBob SquarePants episode.
- Other
- Guest appearance as himself on the ESPN internet show "Mayne Street", starring Kenny Mayne.
[edit] Parodies
- Parodied in the recent television series, State of the Union, as a foul-mouthed actor, who is "expanding his range" after the success of The Sopranos' character.
[edit] References
- ^ Sirico's most acclaimed acting job was that of Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in David Chase's Emmy award winning drama, The Sopranos. Tony Sirico at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Artie's Goose Is Coked", New York Post, May 2, 2006
- ^ From Sing Sing to Bada Bing, thesmokinggun.com, accessed July 17, 2007.
- ^ [1]
- ^ 'Soprano' Makes a Killing for Bush
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-usrudy145292920jul14,0,3125316,print.story
[edit] External links
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