Tony Sirico, Real-Life Tough Guy Before Playing Paulie Walnuts on ‘The Sopranos,’ Dies

Tony Sirico, a tough guy in real life who transitioned to acting and played the memorable Paulie Walnuts on “The Sopranos,” has died. He was 79.

His manager, Bob McGowan, confirmed the death to NBC News. 

“I was a pistol-packing guy,” the actor told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “The first time I went away to prison, they searched me to see if I had a gun — and I had three of ‘em on me.”

After getting work as a model, he transitioned to small-time acting roles, the newspaper reported. Among his many credits were a number of mobster roles, including the character of Tony Stacks in “Goodfellas.”

He eventually landed on “The Sopranos,” which had a hugely successful 1999-2007 run on HBO. More recently he’d lent his voice to animated roles in “Family Guy” and “American Dad!,” among other projects.

The actor’s brother, the Rev. Robert Sirico, said in a Facebook post that he was announcing the death “with great sadness, but with incredible pride.”

McGowan said Sirico died in an assisted living home in Fort Lauderdale early Friday.

This is a developing story