Tony Sirico
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| Tony Sirico | |
|---|---|
| Born | Genaro Anthony Sirico, Jr. July 29, 1942 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Genaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (born July 29, 1942 Midwood, Brooklyn), better known as Tony Sirico, is an American character actor who is most famous for his role as Paulie Gualtieri in the hit television series The Sopranos.
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[edit] Background and career
Sirico was born in Midwood, Brooklyn to Neapolitan parents.
Sirico has played gangsters in a number of films, including Mob Queen, Gangsters, Love and Money, Fingers, The Last Fight, Goodfellas, Innocent Blood, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Gotti, Cop Land, and Mickey Blue Eyes. He also played a policeman in the film Dead Presidents.[1]
Sirico's brother, Robert Sirico, is a priest and co-founder of the free-market Acton Institute.[1] Before turning to acting, Sirico was reportedly a 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 made it 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. According to a court transcript, at the time of his sentencing, he also had pending charges for drug possession.[3]
He currently lives alone in Brooklyn, New York. His mother passed away in 2003.
[edit] Involvement in politics
Sirico has stated that politically he is a "far-to-the-right Republican." [4] He donated $1000 to Rudolph Giuliani's presidential campaign.[5]
[edit] In Popular Culture
Other acting work by Sirico:
- Sirico did the voice for Big Daddy (a mafia fairy) in the series The Fairly OddParents.
- Sirico has also done a voice-over for a SpongeBob SquarePants Episode.
- Sirico's voice is used for his TV character in the THQ Playstation 2 Game The Sopranos: Road to Respect.
- Sirico has been cast as a bit player in Woody Allen movies.
- Sirico played the lead role of the boss in the Cappadonna, of the Wu-Tang Clan, video for "Slang Editorial," in which he was murdered in the end by Cappadonna.
- Sirico also played in an episode of Miami Vice.
- Sirico played a mafia boss in an early '90s Dunkin Donuts commercial.
- Sirico has recently played Paulie Walnuts in a couple Denny's commercials.
- Sirico will be in the upcoming film The Sno Cone Stand Inc.
In her recent television series, State of the Union, Tracey Ullman parodies Sirico as a foul-mouthed actor, who is "expanding his range" after the success of The Sopranos' character.
[edit] References
- ^ Tony Sirico
- ^ "Artie's Goose Is Coked", New York Post, May 2, 2006
- ^ From Sing Sing to Bada Bing, thesmokinggun.com, accessed July 17, 2007.
- ^ The Rockaway Republicans
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-usrudy145292920jul14,0,3125316,print.story
