Home > Actors > S > Sirico, Tony > Biography

The Italian/American actor Tony Sirico was born on July 29, 1942, in Brooklyn, NY. If you've seen a gangster or a mob movie in the past 30 years, Tony's been in it. He's got 'street cred' because during the late 1960s he served time in prison for sticking up a couple of nightclubs. Tony has had minor and major roles in the films "Good Fellas," "Copland," "Mickey Blue Eyes," "Gotti," "Dead President" and of course "Gangsters." He might be most famous for his portrayal of Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in the HBO hit drama "The Sopranos."
There's a reason Brooklyn-born Tony Sirico has such a knack for playing hoods: he used to be one. After doing some hard time for armed robbery, Sirico opted to give up crime and take a stab at acting. From the late '70s on, he made a career of playing mob thugs and crooked cops in such films as Fingers and GoodFellas. However, it was his performance as wise guy Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultieri on HBO's The Sopranos that lifted Sirico from bit-player to acclaimed actor. Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Browse More Actors:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z