Legendary ‘Paulie Walnuts’ actor Tony Sirico who played in ‘The Sopranos’ dies at age 79

Tony Sirico, who played the lovable but murderous gangster Paulie Walnuts on HBO’s “The Sopranos” and was frequently cast in Woody Allen films, died on Friday at the age of 79, according to his family.

Sirico played a pivotal role in the HBO drama, which premiered in 1999 and quickly became a critical and commercial success.

Though he appeared in six Woody Allen films from 1994 to 2016, Sirico was relatively unknown prior to his breakout role as a captain in the crime family of lead character Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini.

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