First guy whacked by Paulie Walnuts in ‘The Sopranos’ remembers Tony Sirico

No matter when you turn on your television, you're probably not too far from an Al Sapienza scene on one of the many shows he's been on. Among his many appearances include "Dopesick," "Queen of The South," "The Blacklist," "And Elementary," "Gotham," "The Flash" and the "Law and Order" shows.

But Soprano fans will remember Sapienza as "Mikey Palmice" the very first person on the show to get "whacked." One of those doing said "whacking" was Paulie Walnuts played by Tony Sirico who passed away July 8th at the age of 79.

Sapienza called into my New Jersey 101.5 show to tell his favorite Sirico story and reminisce about the show, and remember his fellow castmate.

"We shot the whole first season before we were ever on the air," says Sapienza. "We were all unknowns except for Lorraine Bracco, and she hadn't worked in four years. Jimmy (Gandolfini) was on 'Get Shorty' and 'Crimson Tide.' No one knew who he was except the industry people did. We were all happy to be working."

Sapienza continues, "And I pull up and there's Tony outside SilverCup studios basking in the sun like in the old days with the album with aluminum on it, sunning himself and giving himself skin cancer."

How will Sapienza remember Tony Sirico, the man who whacked him from the greatest television series ever?

"He was a great guy. He really was. I mean he was a total New York Brooklyn Italian. The real deal. It's just terrible man, time goes by too fast."

You can hear Al talk more about the first year of the Sopranos here.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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