Paulie Gualtieri 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 and
Frances Esemplare Frances Esemplare Frances Esemplare, professionally credited as Frances Ensemplare, (September 3, 1934 – December 9, 2017) was an American actress best known for her multi-episode recurring role as Marianucci "Nucci" Gualtieri, mother of Paulie Gualtieri (played by Tony Sirico) on "The Sopranos" from 2001 until 2007. Esemplare, a resident of Staten Island, New York, was born Frances Spalluto. Beginning in 2001, she was cast as Nucci Gualtieri, mother of mobster Paulie Gualtieri, on the HBO television series, "The Sopranos". First introduced as Paulie Gualtieri's elderly mother, it is later revealed in the series that she is actually Gualtieri's aunt, who