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The Sopranos star Tony Sirico - best known for playing Paulie Walnuts - dead at 79 says co-star Michael Imperioli: 'He was beloved and will never be forgotten'
- His co-star Michael Imperioli revealed the sad news with an Instagram post on Friday featuring the two of them together
- The 56-year-old actor - who portrayed Christopher Moltisanti in the iconic HBO series - wrote: It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime , the great TONY SIRICO has passed away today'
- The American actor's - born Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. - cause of death has yet to be revealed
- Imperioli worked closely with Sirico as Christopher was put in charge of Paulie's crew when he was promoted to underboss in the series
- Sirico's character Paulie was one of the chief henchmen of series protagonist Tony Soprano who was portrayed by the late James Gandolfini
- Sirico was born in Brooklyn and as a teenager was part of a real-life street gang. He was once seen associating with Colombo family Caporegime Jimmy 'Green Eyes' Clemenza, along with fellow Sopranos actor Vincent Pastor
- He served time in jail for robbery and felony arms possession before deciding to give acting a try after being visited by a troupe of reformed convicts behind bars
- Following The Sopranos, he has made appearances in Medium and Lilyhammer and voiced characters on Family Guy and American Dad!
- He also reprised his Sopranos role in prequel film The Many Saints of Newark which was released last year.
