Biography for
Tony Sirico (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

29 July 1942, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name

Genaro Anthony Sirico Jr.

Nickname

Junior

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Trivia

Sirico was investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office for alleged extortionate activity against the owners of several nightclubs. On February 27, 1970, he was arrested and subsequently indicted for extortion and menacing but plea-bargained to a charge of felony gun possession. Early in 1971, he was sentenced to a maximum of four years, of which he served 20 months. Since then, Sirico has had no further trouble with the law. He got a part in the film Crazy Joe (1974) which led to him obtaining a Screen Actors Guild card.

His brother Robert is a Catholic priest in the diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Has done Stacker 2 commercials with WWE wrestlers Tazz, Trish Stratus and Bubba Ray Dudley.

Lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Has a son and a daughter, both in their 30s.

Practices Karate and Kung Fu

Frequently cast as a bit player in Woody Allen movies.

A member of the USO.

An Italian-American, of Sicilian descent.

In Goodfellas (1990), he played a mobster named Tony who reports to a boss named Paulie. In "The Sopranos" (1999), he plays a mobster named Paulie who reports to a boss named Tony.

He spent a few years in the US Army.

Personal Quotes

When I first read David Chase's script [for "The Sopranos" (1999)], I knew this was special. This is what I'd been looking for all my life . . . When I heard James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli and Nancy Marchand were in it, I knew it was going to be a total class act. I knew right away this was a role to kill for.

I've done like 45 movies, played 40 gangsters and five crooked cops.

It makes some great movies. I mean, some of my favorite films growing up, have been, forgive me, gangster films. I learned how to walk and talk watching [James Cagney]. It's that, it's the power, it's the glamor. The mob just has all that mysticism around it that's magical.