Paulie Gualtieri
 |
| Paulie Walnuts | |
|---|---|
| File:The Sopranos Paulie.jpg | |
| First appearance | The Sopranos (episode 1.01) |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Portrayed by | Tony Sirico |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Paul Walters, Ted Hughes, 'Clarence' |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Underboss of Dimeo Crime Family |
| Occupation | Waste Management Executive |
| Family | Nucci Gualtieri (mother) Unnamed Brother Rose Gualtieri (sister) |
| Relatives | Dottie (biological mother, "aunt") Paulie Germani (nephew) |
Peter Paul Gualtieri (or Paulie Walnuts), played by Tony Sirico, is a Soprano crime family capo in the HBO TV series, The Sopranos. Paulie Walnuts' birth name is Peter Paul Gualtieri. He earned the nickname "Paulie Walnuts" when he hijacked a truck which he thought was loaded with high-end electronics only to discover that it was a truckload of walnuts.
Biography
Template:Spoiler It should first be noted that Paulie is Jewish.
Starting at the age of nine Paulie has been a street kid. He spent time in and out of juvenile correctional facilities until he became an enforcer for Johnny Boy Soprano, Tony's father at seventeen. He spent some time in the Army where he was eventually drummed out through Section 8 (discharge because of psychiatric reasons). Afterwards, he spent time in and out of prison. Eventually, he worked his way up through the DiMeo Crime Family, reaching captain soon after Tony became boss.
Despite his seniority, Paulie is one of the more eccentric of Tony's associates, as expressed by his paranoia, mysophobia, competitiveness, miserly nature, impulsive violence, and often childlike dependence on Tony's approval. When Tony told his crew that he had been in therapy Paulie revealed that he too had seen a therapist. Nevertheless, Paulie is one of the top earners in the family.
In Season One, Paulie was a central member of Tony's crew. He executed a Colombian drug dealer and stole a large quantity of drugs and cash from his hotel room. When suspicions that Big Pussy was a rat first surfaced, it was Paulie who was assigned to investigate; his method of taking Pussy to a bath house and trying to get him to undress lacked subtlety and drove his friend into hiding. In Tony's brief and bloody war with the Junior Soprano crew following Junior's attempt on Tony's life, Paulie was assigned the hit on Mikey Palmice, with assistance from Christopher Moltisanti. Paulie's allergy to poison ivy slowed him down but he still played his part. When Christopher was later shot he awoke with a message for Paulie from Palmice - Christopher told Paulie that he had been to hell where Palmice spoke to him and asked him to warn Paulie that 3 o'clock would be a significant time for him. In Season Two, Paulie became capo of the crew and had Pussy, Christopher and Furio Giunta reporting to him. When it was confirmed that Pussy was an FBI informant, Paulie accompanied Tony and Silvio Dante on their trip out on a boat to execute Pussy. Paulie said that Pussy was like a brother to him and that his sense of betrayal was huge. Eventually he claimed to have put the event behind him.
Christopher often chafed under Paulie's leadership, particularly after Christopher became a made man. Paulie began to demand regular payment and also insisted that Christopher cover expensive dinners for the crew. Paulie also subjected Christopher to humiliating random checks for wires. The tension between them came to a head in the episode "Pine Barrens" when they botched a simple collection job and ended up severely beating a Russian named Valery. They took Valery out into the Pine Barrens to dispose of him, but found him still alive when they arrived. Valery escaped and Paulie and Chris pursued him until they were hopelessly lost. They spent the night in a wrecked van and argued until they agreed that they had to depend on one another to survive.
In Season Three, Paulie grew upset after Tony ruled against him in a sit down with Ralph Cifaretto. Paulie, who had provided Ralphie with the security codes he needed to execute a $100,000 robbery, demanded $50,000 of the take. Ralphie, who had purposefully not picked up Paulie's nephew, Little Paulie Germani, the night of robbery, countered by offering only $5,000, claiming Paulie had not done any of the leg work. Ultimately, Tony ruled that Paulie was entitled to $12,000. Paulie, who had just put his mother in the expensive "Green Grove" retirement community, was especially angered by the ruling, as he had been depending on the $50,000. Paulie also grew jealous of Ralphie's earning ability, which far outpaced Paulie's because of Ralphie's ties to the highly lucrative Esplanade project, and Ralphie's consequently rising stock in Tony's eyes.
Between Seasons Three and Four, Paulie was arrested in Ohio on a gun possession charge. During his four months in jail, he communicated with Johnny Sack, the underboss of New York's Lupertazzi Crime Family, while under the false impression that he could earn a place with them. Paulie's wavering loyalty only served to accelerate his marginalization under Tony. However, by the middle of Season Four, Paulie realized he had been duped by Johnny Sack and that Carmine Lupertazzi had never even heard of him, much less offered him a place in his New York family. Following this development, Paulie once again devoted himself fully to Tony and the DiMeo family, reclaiming his status as a top earner, and he has seemingly regained his place within Tony's inner circle.
Paulie has always been devoted to his mother, Marianucci "Nucci" Gualtieri, whom he has watched over constantly. She was delighted when he first placed her at "Green Grove". Paulie also interceded in her social problems with other residents going so far as to attack their relatives to ensure civility for his mother. He later learned that one of the woman Nucci had trouble with, Minn Matrone, kept all her cash in her home. Paulie broke into Minn's home to try to steal this money but she disturbed him and when he failed to talk his way out he suffocated her. He used the money to sweeten his sudden restoration in loyalty to Tony.
In Season Five, Christopher and Paulie's bad blood resurfaces when Christopher embarrasses Paulie in front of the capos with the "Pine Barrens" story, stating that Paulie was the cause of the foul up. At comàre night, Christopher refuses to pay for the dinner and forces Paulie to pay. At Satriale's the following morning, Paulie demands the money back or Christopher will begin paying points. At another dinner in Atlantic City, Paulie tells everyone to choose whatever they want in order to inflate the bill for Christopher. Christopher responds by leaving a small tip and arguing with Paulie. After the meal Paulie and Christopher continue to bicker in the parking lot until the waiter comes out to confront them. Christopher responds violently and throws a brick at him. The waiter collapses, goes into convulsions, and Paulie then shoots him. Paulie grabbed the $1200 bill before running away. Paulie later calls Christopher and they agree to "bury the hatchet". However, to bury the hatchet Paulie insists on keeping half of the $1200 bill that Christopher left.
Paulie also gets into a dispute with Michele "Feech" La Manna over their rival landscaping companies. Paulie and Feech both resort to violently assaulting the other's gardeners. Paulie's competition with and antagonisation of Feech serves to highlight Feech's insubordinate tendencies. Feech is then "set up" to insure his return to prison.
Uniquely among his colleagues, Paulie remains single. Unlike most of the other Mafioso, he shuns the married life. Paulie's girlfriend is briefly seen in episode 2.9 ("From Where to Eternity"); she is played by Scrubs actress Judy Reyes. It remains unknown whether she is still his girlfriend.
Paulie has a reputation for withholding money from his payments "up the ladder". In "Mayham", while Tony was in a coma, Paulie took part in a heist with associate Cary De Bartolo that led to a huge score. Paulie murdered two Colombian drug dealers in the process but was himself left with a groin injury that required a trip to a urologist. The heist resulted from a tip from Vito Spatafore. They had agreed to split the haul, but Paulie later tried to withhold some of Vito's share; Silvio had to mediate as acting boss. Carmela received a package from Paulie and Vito but she noticed their displeasure at handing it over and later told Tony she believed they were withholding but Tony shrugged it off. When Vito's homosexuality was later revealed Paulie was outspoken in his homophobia and desire to see Vito killed. When Vito returned after months in hiding Tony considered letting his proposal of setting up business in Atlantic City with Silvio in front of Paulie; Paulie got up and left the room.
In the Season 6 episode "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh", it was revealed to Paulie that his dying aunt Dotty, a nun, was actually his mother. She had become pregnant with him by a soldier identified only as "Russ". Nucci, the woman Paulie had thought of as his mother, was really his aunt, who took him in to hide the scandal. This revelation sent Paulie into an emotional tailspin, in the grips of which he severed his ties to his Nucci and threw the wide screen TV he had given her out of the window. The episode ended with Paulie extorting $4000 per month (the exact sum of Nucci's retirement home costs) from the son of the late owner of the Barone Sanitation company, unbeknownst to Tony Soprano. Earlier, Paulie had witnessed Helen Barone meet with Tony to intercede on her son's behalf and Tony promised that he would not be harmed; eavesdropping on this conversation led Paulie to break down emotionally.
In "The Ride" Paulie is responsible for organizing the annual festivities at the Feast of St. Elzear. Typically the streets around a church are closed off and a festival takes place including a procession with a statue of the saint. Paulie had taken over running the festival from Johnny Boy Soprano upon his death and continues to try to run it for profit. This year it proved a burden - first the replacement priest, Father José, tried to renegotiate the payment the church would receive from the proceeds of the feast. Paulie refused to pay. Father Jose retaliated by refusing to allow St. Elzear's gold hat to be used in the festival. The hat's absence was noticed and complained about by older people from the neighborhood. Ride maintenance was another area where Paulie decided to save money, which resulted in a malfunction while Bobby Baccala's family was on a ride. This resulted in hard feelings between Paulie and Bobby. Paulie got into trouble with Tony for his mismanagement of the festival and was ordered to resolve things with Bobby. Nucci visited the festival and took the opportunity to chastise Paulie for his sins, both in organizing the festival and not attending his biological mother's funeral, as she had raised him to know better. Paulie continued in his baleful rejection of Nucci.
During the festival, Paulie was tested for prostate cancer because of an elevated PSA; given the revelation about his parentage, there was no way of knowing if he was genetically predisposed to the disease. During a restless night awaiting his biopsy results Paulie awoke at 3 a.m. and went to the Bada Bing! club. There he had a striking vision of the Virgin Mary hovering above the stage. Paulie later visited Nucci at Green Grove and they had a silent reconciliation in front of a much smaller television.
In the episode "Moe N' Joe", Paulie told Tony that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The disease was apparently caught in an early stage and Paulie is undergoing a course of radiotherapy. Paulie suggested that his luck at having been diagnosed early was a reward for good deeds in his life and Tony agreed with him. Paulie asked Tony to keep the news to himself; he was later seen playing pool at the Bada Bing! and appeared to be dealing well with the illness. He stated in the episode "Stage 5", that he beat the cancer, after learning of Johnny Sack's death of lung cancer.
In the episode, "Remember When", Paulie and Tony go to Miami to lay low after the FBI investigates an old murder case, which happened to be Tony's first hit. In Miami, Tony grows weary of Paulie's mannerisms and tendencies to blab information to other people and questions him several times about the joke Ralph Cifaretto made about Ginny Sacrimoni's weight. (In an act of disloyalty, Paulie had informed Johnny Sack about this joke in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Luperatazzi family at a time when inter-family tensions were running high.) Eventually, The murder is blamed on the deceased Jackie Aprile, Sr., So Tony takes Paulie on a fishing trip to celebrate. Paulie has serious misgivings about going to sea with Tony, remembering how a boat trip was used to lure informant Pussy Bonpensiero to his death, but sees no alternative. While Tony seriously considers murdering Paulie, he ultimately decides to spare his life. Seemingly out of gratitude, Paulie sends Carmela a $2000 espresso machine. In the episode " Walk like a Man", Paulie's Nephew, Little Paulie, recently was beaten up by Christopher over a dispute with Christopher and is thrown out a window and suffered 6 broken vertebrae. Paulie angry over the fact that Christopher beat up his nephew badly, tears up Christopher's $40,000 lawn with his car, leaving Kelli shaken. Later in the episode they seem to have made up, and are drinking together. Then Paulie makes some off collar remarks about Christopher's daughter causing Christopher to storm out of the Bada Bing.
Trivia
- Exclusively drives Cadillac automobiles:
- Season 1-2: Cadillac Seville (with "The Godfather Theme" novelty horn)
- Season 3: DeVille, Eldorado
- Season 6: CTS
- Paulie is tied with Christopher Moltisanti for the most on-screen murders with 8.
