catesta Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 And he may be the only cast member with actual criminal experience--so he didn't act right off camera, either. Paulie has got him beat... 'SOPRANO' STAR'S THUG PAST By LEONARD GREENE March 20, 2006 -- 'WALNUTS' WAS NUTS IN 1970S Before he became knee-breaking "Sopranos" henchman Paulie Walnuts, TV tough guy Tony Sirico was a low-level, gun-toting shakedown artist who threatened to kill cops and hinted that he once whacked a guy with five bullets in the head, an explosive new report reveals. Although Sirico, 63, has made no secret that his art imitates his life, the thug-turned-thespian has kept the details of his checkered past as closely guarded as a "Sopranos" script. But a newly published document sheds a harsh light on Sirico's criminal past - showcasing the life of an armed, arrogant hoodlum. According to court documents obtained by TheSmokingGun.com, Sirico was shaking down a Manhattan nightclub in 1970 when he got pinched for threatening the lives of city cops and a nightclub owner. Sirico was sentenced to prison for seven years, of which he served three. At his sentencing, according to a transcript of the proceeding, a prosecutor outlined the bullying style that Sirico would later bring to HBO. Sirico was working his mob magic on a discotheque called "Together" on 59th Street, telling club owner John Addison how he dealt with guys who didn't obey. "You hit them over the head with a baseball bat and they come around," Sirico said. Then, according to prosecutor Gerald Hinckley, Sirico explained to Addison the penalty for non-compliance. A previous owner's bouncer was thrown out a window, another club was shut down, and another man named Bobby Woods suffered the ultimate punishment. "You saw what happened to him," Sirico said to Addison, according to the transcript. Addison knew. "Mr. Bobby Woods was found dead with five bullets in his head in Queens with a .32 automatic," Hinckley told the judge. Addison went to the cops anyway, and seven detectives were assigned to the Sirico case. But one day when detectives assigned to follow him botched a surveillance, Sirico and an associate turned the tables on the cops and followed the unmarked car, running it into a traffic divider at Broadway and West 72nd Street. According to the transcript, an angry Sirico went back to the nightclub and confronted Addison. "I'm going to come back here and I'm going to carve my initials in your forehead," Sirico screamed. "You put those guys on me. I'm going to take care of them. You want to play with guns? We got guns. We're going to shoot them. "I have an arsenal of weapons and an army of men, and I'm going to use them, and after I take care of those guys I'm going to come back here and carve my initials in your forehead. You better learn a lesson. You better show me the respect I deserve." A frightened Addison ran outside, where cops were still staking out his club. They went in and dragged the mobster out, and found a .32-caliber automatic handgun in his waistband. Sirico was indicted for extortion, coercion and felony gun possession, and pleaded guilty to the gun charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Tony's wife's voice on the phone in the dream sequence is not Carmella's. It's Charmaine's. Interesting. The "water cooler" talk in my office placed the voice as Gloria, Tony's "goomad" from a while back. I was the dissenting voice in the sense that maybe it was Gloria, it definitley was not Carmela, but I thought maybe it was just an actress doing a voice over that was supposed to be Carmela and she just didn't do that great a job of imitating Carmela. Charmaine is a possibility that nobody "around the water cooler" came up with, but I think it's a good one, being as Tony dated Charmaine at one time. If this dream was wish fufillment, which is my take on it, that would be very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 I thought Gloria myself but only after first thinking it was Adriana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 An improvement over last week, no doubt. Still somewhat of a weak episode though. That AJ kid needs to be thrown out a window or something. Silvio proved to himself "some people are better at being number two's". Looks like Paulie definitely has some problems coming his way, as does I'm guessing Vito. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny E Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 I see Phil Leotardo getting some retribution for the murder of his brother (and his not being able to enact proper justice) in coming episodes. Right now Johnny Sack is the only one keeping him from it. But with him in jail indefinitely, I don't think he'll be able to keep him on a leash for very much longer. Meadow has really blossomed into a beautiful woman hasn't she? Her man Finn better tell somebody about Vito's cock suckin' ways soon or he's gonna wind up dead just like her previous boyfriend Jackie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Agree on The Phil thing. It's only a matter of time. Still, Phil did warn Vito about not giving the money to Carmela. And while in the subject of Vito, hell yes Finn is going to have to tell someone about that soon. I'm really surprised Vito was rubbing the kids arm like that. You would think he would be scared as hell someone would find out. Meadow = Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny E Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 I love the Sopranos I find that new one "Big Love" to be slightly disturbing yet very compelling. It's a good one as well. We'll see if it can reach the levels of The Sopranos or 6 Feet Under - I doubt it, but we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I was alone in defending the show today to the "water cooler" gang. 'The general office take on it today was negative. Too much soap opera. Some people are really bugged by the coma fantasies, but if the show was the way they wanted it it would just be shoot 'em up bang bang. That's not really the way I see it. For me, I'm willing to wait if this is all setting the stage. It all depends on where they take it. PLUS - I was still entertained. the hour went by too quickly. Re the dream sequences. Many of the office people didn't notice the Doctor working on Tony was one of the Monks and in the scene where Tony Blundetto was trying to get Tony into that house they didn't notice the woman who I took to be Tony's mother. When David Chase did Northern Exposure the show got increasingly further out as it went on. Again - that didn't bother me. I kind of dig the fantasy elements. And yes, AJ an ass and I wish I didn't have to say the Steven Van Zandt's acting is more noticably amateurish as his character gets more attention. His wife is GAS to look at however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Meadow has really blossomed into a beautiful woman hasn't she? Her man Finn better tell somebody about Vito's cock suckin' ways soon or he's gonna wind up dead just like her previous boyfriend Jackie. Beautiful? that's debateable, but she's still a whiny NJ mafia princess and Finn might be better off dead than being ball and chained to her and her creepy family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I was alone in defending the show today to the "water cooler" gang. 'The general office take on it today was negative. Too much soap opera. Some people are really bugged by the coma fantasies, but if the show was the way they wanted it it would just be shoot 'em up bang bang. That's not really the way I see it. For me, I'm willing to wait if this is all setting the stage. It all depends on where they take it. PLUS - I was still entertained. the hour went by too quickly. Re the dream sequences. Many of the office people didn't notice the Doctor working on Tony was one of the Monks and in the scene where Tony Blundetto was trying to get Tony into that house they didn't notice the woman who I took to be Tony's mother. When David Chase did Northern Exposure the show got increasingly further out as it went on. Again - that didn't bother me. I kind of dig the fantasy elements. And yes, AJ an ass and I wish I didn't have to say the Steven Van Zandt's acting is more noticably amateurish as his character gets more attention. His wife is GAS to look at however. I've always had issues with Van Zandt's acting ability. He's almost like a cartoon character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hey, did anyone notice a strange scene in the hospital elevator near the end? There was a kind of a dark silhouette of a guy standing in the background when two of the guys in the crew got on? I think it was Carmela who noticed it. I can't remember who was getting on the elevator....just got off a 12 hour workday and my mind is not functioning right. Anyways, I didn't understand what that scene was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hey, did anyone notice a strange scene in the hospital elevator near the end? There was a kind of a dark silhouette of a guy standing in the background when two of the guys in the crew got on? I think it was Carmela who noticed it. I can't remember who was getting on the elevator....just got off a 12 hour workday and my mind is not functioning right. Anyways, I didn't understand what that scene was. Carmela did see something and had a strange look on her face but I'm not sure what it was?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I think Carmela was just noticing the look of disgust on Paulie's face. He was not happy about giving her that money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Yeah, I'm betting that Paulie's not getting a free ride on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolyStitt Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 And while in the subject of Vito, hell yes Finn is going to have to tell someone about that soon. I'm really surprised Vito was rubbing the kids arm like that. You would think he would be scared as hell someone would find out. I took it as a moment of self confidence because he expected Tony to die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny E Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 (edited) Meadow has really blossomed into a beautiful woman hasn't she? Beautiful? that's debateable I don't know. Maybe it's the Italian in me, but i find her to be scrumptious. Edited March 28, 2006 by Johnny E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Meadow has really blossomed into a beautiful woman hasn't she? Beautiful? that's debateable I don't know. Maybe it's the Italian in me, but i find her to be scrumptious. Well the Italian may be in you, but according to her official website JamieLynnSigler.com she's ""Cuban, Jewish American, and Greek" and grew up on Long Island (big surprise there) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Actually, I think this is turning out to be a really great start to the season. The 1st episode had me a little miffed and in a fog (hated the dream sequence at first). Now I'm diggin' it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny E Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Well, whatever her ethnicity, I still find her to be scrumptious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md655321 Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Yeah, I'd say she's not so bad. Her dancing in her underwear was easily the best part of the season so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValerieB Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hey, did anyone notice a strange scene in the hospital elevator near the end? There was a kind of a dark silhouette of a guy standing in the background when two of the guys in the crew got on? I think it was Carmela who noticed it. I can't remember who was getting on the elevator....just got off a 12 hour workday and my mind is not functioning right. Anyways, I didn't understand what that scene was. all i saw was carmela observing the dejected looks on vito(?) and paulie's faces as the elevator doors were closing, after they handed over all that money to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Tony picks up Barry Finnerty's briefcase and wallet, and the Finnerty family reunion turns out to be an entrance into death. I wonder if there is some wordplay going on here. Finnerty, finis (Latin for end, as in end of life). If so, Meadow's boyfriend Finn is not long for this world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I think that it is priceless that in his dream sequence, Tony is mistaken for an unscrupulous contractor. After having had some work done on my house, I wonder if there is any profession other than organized crime which attracts such sleazy, dishonest low-lifes as the construction industry. (I am sure that there are many fine, upstanding people in that industry as well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 (edited) I found it hilarious that Paulie's ludicrous babbling about his body, while sitting at Tony's hospital bedside, came across in Tony's coma dream as someone talking through the adjacent hotel room wall in a manner so irritating that it drove Tony to almost embrace death. In general, the inappropriate and ridiculous bedside speeches of A.J., Paulie and Christopher (while Tony was awake but extremely groggy) were hilarious in a dark way. These guys could not think of anything else to say to the "great man" at a time like that? I loved the brainstorming session about Christopher's slasher film, when one of the minor mobsters comes up with the idea that the pieces of the main character's body would be dumped off at different sites along the same garbage route, so that they could reassemble themselves at the dump. What a problem solver that guy is! He could go far in the corporate world with can-do skills like that! Edited March 28, 2006 by Hot Ptah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Another fine episode last night. As the story unravels, its really turning out to be one of the best seasons so far. The possibilities of what could happen seem more intense than ever before. By the way, Bobby Bakala shooting the rapper in the ass was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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