Tony Sirico, actor of The Sopranos, died at 79

The Sopranos has amassed a talented cast of actors who kept the show for six seasons, but now another member of that former cast is dead. Tony Sirico, who played Peter Paul Gualtieri (better known as Paulie Walnuts), has died. He was 79 at the time of his death.

Tony Sirico was just three weeks away from his 80th birthday on July 29 when he died on July 8. Although the cause of his death was not disclosed at the time of this writing, Term reports that the actor’s health has deteriorated for several years, which prevented him from reprising the role of Paulie Walnuts for the 2021 prequel film. The Many Saints of Newark. He was in a health care facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he died. His family confirmed the sad news in a statement, saying:

The actor had a long career in show business, dating back to the 1970s, but later earned a reputation for playing gangsters and criminals. he had a role in good guys in 1990, who obviously also played Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and the late Ray Liotta, who passed away earlier this year.

He amassed many more acting credits over the next decade, but he was with The Sopranos Beginning in 1999, she had her big break and became an unforgettable part of pop culture for fans of the show.

As Paulie Walnuts, Tony Sirico was a fan favorite as a sidekick and managed to survive all six seasons of the HBO drama. The character was fiercely loyal to Tony Soprano (he played James Gandolfini, who died almost exactly nine years ago at the age of 51). Paulie wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and had a long list of killings by the end of the show.

It has become an essential part of the series and of the fans who have returned with the Soprano family The Many Saints of Newark No doubt I would have liked to have seen Sirico in his most famous role. (Paul Magnussen played the younger version of Paulie Walnuts for the 2021 film.)

With the rest of the cast of The Sopranoswas nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series seven times (with the sixth and final season split into two halves), winning twice.

He would go on to contribute episodes from other shows, including two episodes of lily hammer in 2013 and 2014, two episodes of American father in 2017 and 2019, and memorably five episodes of family man between 2013 and 2016. In addition to voicing the character of Vinny for the animated series, he appeared in a rare live-action interlude as himself.

Tony Sirico was an important part of the cast of a show that changed the pop culture landscape and helped usher in the era of prestige television, and we will certainly miss him. Our thoughts here at Gossipify are with the actor’s family, friends and loved ones. If you want to revisit his work as Paulie Walnuts, you can do it with The Sopranos Airing on HBO Max.