Early life

Sirico was born in New York City, New York. Before turning to acting, he was convicted of several crimes, and had been arrested 28 times. In 1967, he was sent to prison for robbing a Brooklyn after-hours club, but was released after serving thirteen months. In 1971, he pleaded guilty to felony weapons possession and was sentenced to an "indeterminate" prison term of up to four years, of which he ended up serving 20 months. He has said that during his imprisonment, he was visited by an acting troupe composed of ex-convicts, which inspired him to give acting a try. According to a court transcript, at the time of his sentencing, he also had pending charges for drug possession. He appeared in a 1989 documentary about life, The Big Bang, by James Toback, in which he discussed his earlier life.

Career

Sirico has played gangsters in a number of films, including Goodfellas, Mob Queen, Mighty Aphrodite, Love and Money, Fingers, The One Man Jury, Defiance, The Last Fight, Innocent Blood, Bullets over Broadway, The Pick-up Artist, Gotti, The Search for One-eye Jimmy, Cop Land, Turn of Faith, Hello Again, and Mickey Blue Eyes.

He also played policemen in the films Dead Presidents and Deconstructing Harry. Recently, he told the host of a Las Vegas radio show he would be playing the role of an ill-tempered high school football coach in an upcoming comedy for children called Sports Heaven. He is currently set to star in the upcoming drama Zarra's Law, written and produced by Joseph Scarpinito for Scarpe Diem Productions.

In late 2013, he voiced the character of Vinny Griffin, who was the family's pet dog in Family Guy.

Personal life

Sirico's brother, Rev. Robert Sirico, is a Catholic priest and co-founder of the free-market Acton Institute.

Sirico has stated that he is a Republican.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	The Godfather Part II	Extra	Unconfirmed; uncredited
1978	Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell	Frankie Rio
	Fingers	Riccamonza
	The One Man Jury	Charlie Nuts
1980	Defiance	Davey
1981	So Fine	Associate
1982	Love & Money	Raoul
1983	Exposed	Thief
	The Last Fight	Frankie
1987	The Galucci Brothers	Galucci Brother
	The Pick-up Artist	Patsy Cabaluso
	Hello Again	Tough Guy
1989	White Hot	Luke
	Cookie	Carmine's Wiseguy
1990	Catchfire	Greek Guy
	Goodfellas	Tony Stacks
1991	29th Street	Fortunado
1992	Innocent Blood	Jacko
1993	New York Cop	Mr. C
	Romeo Is Bleeding	Malacci
1994	Men Lie	Porno Witness
	Bullets over Broadway	Rocco
	The Search for One-eye Jimmy	Snake
1995	Dead Presidents	Officer Spinelli
	Mighty Aphrodite	Boxing Trainer
	Melissa	Jack
	Dearly Beloved	Mr. Bedutz	Short film
1996	Everyone Says I Love You	Escaped Convict
1997	Hoodlum	Driver
	Deconstructing Harry	Police Officer
	Cop Land	Toy Torillo
	The Deli	Tony
1998	Mob Queen	Joey "The Heart" Aorta
	Celebrity	Lou DeMarco
1999	Mickey Blue Eyes	Risolli Guard
2000	It Had to Be You	Ricky Valentino
2001	Smokin' Stogies	Tony Batts
2002	Turn of Faith	Jimmy
2008	The Sno Cone Stand Inc	Bob Beasley
2009	Karma Calling	G
2010	Skate	Skate	Short film
2012	Jersey Shore Shark Attack	Captain Salie
2013	Super Athlete	Coach Lou
	Zarra's Law	Tony Zarra
	Family on Board	Rocco	Short film
2014	Friends and Romans	Bobby Musso
2016	Café Society	Vito	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Kojak	Greek God	Episode: "Case Without a File"
1982	Police Squad!	Poker Player	Episode: "Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)"
1989	Miami Vice	Frank Romano	Episode: "Fruit of the Poison Tree"
	Perfect Witness	Marco	Television film
1992	In the Shadow of a Killer	Tony Andretti	Television film
1996	Cosby	Teddy	Episode: "Happily Ever Hilton"
	Gotti	Joe Dimiglia	Television film
1998	Witness to the Mob	Thomas Gambino	Television film
	Vig	Locasso	Television film
1999-2007	The Sopranos	Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri	86 episodes
2005	The Fairly OddParents	Big Daddy	2 episodes
2008	A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa	Mobster	TV special
2010	Chuck	Matty	Episode: "Chuck Versus the Fake Name"
	Medium	Big Daddy	Episode: "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day"
2013-2014	Lilyhammer	Tony Tagliano	Episodes: "2.8: Ghosts" and "3.8: Loose Ends"
2013	Nicky Deuce	Charlie Cement	Television film
	Family Guy	Vinny Griffin	Voice Episodes: "Life of Brian", "Into Harmony's Way", and "Christmas Guy"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Sopranos: Road to Respect	Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri	Voice

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
2000	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The Sopranos	Won
2001	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2002	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2005	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2007	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]