MUMBAI: Actor Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnuts on the HBO series "The Sopranos" and was frequently cast in Woody Allen films, died on Friday at age 79, his family said.
"It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony `Tony` Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022," 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 in Brooklyn on July 29, 1942, Sirico served 20 months in prison on a gun charge in the early 1970s, according to the movie database IMDB.com.
His first movie role came in 1974`s "Crazy Joe," about the Mafia figure Joey Gallo, but his defining role was in the HBO series created by David Chase.
Sirico was well known for his lead character Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini. His credits in Woody Allen movies include "Bullets Over Broadway" of 1994, "Mighty Aphrodite" of 1995, "Everyone Says I Love You" from 1996, "Deconstructing Harry" from 1997, "Celebrity" from 1998, and in his post-Sopranos fame, "Café Society" of 2016.
Credit: DNA
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