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»Sopranos« star Tony Sirico (in New York 2007)
Photo: Peter Foley / dpa
The US actor Tony Sirico, best known for the mafia series "The Sopranos", is dead. His longtime manager Bob McGowan told the German Press Agency that he died on Friday in a nursing home in the US state of Florida.
The cause of death is not yet known.
However, Sirico has suffered from dementia for several years, McGowan said.
The actor was 79 years old.
"Sopranos" actor Michael Imperioli confirmed the death of his "dear friend" and colleague.
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Sirico was more than 50 years old when producer-writer David Chase cast him for the HBO series The Sopranos.
The eccentric and sometimes violent Paulie Gualtieri, played by Sirico, is one of the most popular characters in the series about the New Jersey gangster life.
Arrested by the police
Sirico was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York.
In his youth he had frequent troubles with the law and was repeatedly arrested.
He became interested in acting while in prison, when a group of ex-convicts performed there.
From the 1970s he repeatedly had smaller roles in series such as »Kojak« and »Miami Vice«.
Sirico has also acted in films such as the gangster epic Goodfellas and the romantic comedy Mickey Blue Eyes.
Director Woody Allen gave Sirico frequent supporting roles, including in films such as Bullets Over Broadway, Aphrodite's Love, Cafe Society and Wonder Wheel.
mwo/dpa/AFP