Tony Sirico, celebrated actor with storied criminal history, dead at 79

Tony Sirico, the actor who gained fame as irascible gangster Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri on "The Sopranos" and who lived a storied criminal life prior to his break into showbusiness, died Friday. He was 79.

Sirico as a young man was involved in considerable amounts of petty crime, having been arrested several dozen times and even serving a stretch at Sing Sing prison in the 1970s. 

An ex-convict performance troupe convinced him to take a shot at acting, after which he enjoyed success in a string of films from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. 

His most celebrated role was that of Paulie Walnuts, the New Jersey mobster loyal to Tony Soprano in the critically acclaimed and celebrated HBO gangster series. Sirico netted two Screen Actors Guild awards as part of the show's ensemble cast.

Sirico was living in an assisted living facility at the time of his death and had been diagnosed with dementia a few years prior.