Anecdotes

In the 1970s he was investigated by the Manhattan (NY) District Attorney's office for alleged extortionate activity against the owners of several nightclubs. On 2/27/70, 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, he has had no further trouble with the law.

He got a part in the film Jo le fou (1974) which led to him obtaining a Screen Actors Guild card.

In Les Affranchis (1990), he played a mobster named Tony who reports to a boss named Paulie. In Les Soprano (1999), he plays a mobster named Paulie who reports to a boss named Tony.

Practices karate and kung fu.

He spent a few years in the US Army.

An Italian-American. His surname Sirico originated in Campania.

With all of his success and fame, Sirico has taken time out of his busy work schedule to help others. He has helped to raise funds for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and HeartShare, which provides services and special programs to individuals and families in need in the New York area.

Sirico was convicted of several crimes and had been arrested 28 times, including for disorderly conduct, assault, and robbery, before taking up acting.

One brother, Robert Sirico, is a Catholic priest in the diocese of Kalamazoo, MI. Another older brother, Carmine Sirico, appeared very briefly as "Dealer" in The Happy Wanderer (2000).

On February 27, 1970, he was arrested at a restaurant, and found with a .32 caliber revolver on his person. In 1971, he was indicted for extortion, coercion, and felony weapons possession, convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison, of which he served 20 months at Sing Sing.

Lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY.

In 2004, Sirico and James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano, visited the Persian Gulf region as part of a USO-Armed Forces Entertainment tour. The co-stars signed autographs, posed for photographs, and spent time with the servicemen and women to show their support.

Has appeared in six films directed by Woody Allen: Coups de feu sur Broadway (1994), Maudite Aphrodite (1995), Tout le monde dit I love you (1996), Harry dans tous ses états (1997), Celebrity (1998) and Café Society (2016).

In 1999, Sirico and Sopranos co-star Vincent Pastore met with James Clemenza and his brother Jerry, Colombo crime family soldiers, at a Christmas party in Little Italy, Manhattan. Clemenza was under FBI surveillance at the time.

A member of the United Service Organization (USO).

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

Sirico, along with the rest of the cast of Les Soprano (1999), won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2000 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Frequently cast as a bit player in Woody Allen movies.

But he had been diagnosed with dementia some years before his death.

Doing Denny's commercials (2008)

Has done Stacker 2 commercials with WWE wrestlers Peter Senerchia (Tazz), Trish Stratus, and Mark LoMonaco (Bubba Ray Dudley).

He reunited with former Sopranos actors Federico Castelluccio and Vincent Pastore in Sarah Q (2018).

In 2008, Sirico released a cologne called Paolo Per Uomo.

He appeared in the documentary The Big Bang (1989) by James Toback, in which he discussed his earlier life.

He was the son of Mary Francis (Cappelluzzo) and Gennaro Bartolomeo Sirico.

He got a part in Jo le fou (1974) which led to him obtaining a Screen Actors Guild card.

He has worked with director Woody Allen on numerous films, including Coups de feu sur Broadway (1994), Maudite Aphrodite (1995), and Celebrity (1998).