Paulie Gualtieri 2009. Paulie Gualtieri Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri is a fictional character portrayed by Tony Sirico on the HBO series "The Sopranos". Paulie begins the series as a soldier, and later becomes a caporegime and eventually underboss of the DiMeo crime family. According to "The Sopranos: A Family History", Peter Paul "Paulie" Gualtieri, son of Gennaro Gualtieri (although Paulie's biological father was later revealed to be a World War II soldier named "Russ"), has been a troubled street kid in Roseville, Newark from the age of nine. He dropped out of school after the ninth grade and spent time in
The Sopranos had a bigger impact on how stories are told on the small screen, or more influence on what kind of fare we’ve been offered by an ever-growing array of television networks." Hal Boedeker stated in PopMatters in 2007 that the series was "widely influential for revealing that cable would accommodate complex series about dark characters. "The Sopranos" ushered in "Six Feet Under", "The Shield", "Rescue Me", and "Big Love"." The series helped establish HBO as producers of critically acclaimed and commercially successful original television series. Michael Flaherty of "The Hollywood Reporter" has stated that "The Sopranos" "helped launch [HBO's] reputation