Paulie Walnuts

Paulie Gualtieri
Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"Made in America" (episode 6.21)
Created by	David Chase
Portrayed by	Tony Sirico
Information
Full name	Peter Paul Gualtieri
Nickname(s)	Paoluccio Paulie Walnuts
Aliases	Clarence Ted Hughes Mr. Walters
Occupation	Former waste management executive of Barone Sanitation "Professional Investor" as listed on his tax forms
Title	Soldier (unknown – season 1) Capo (season 2 – 5) Underboss of the DiMeo crime family (season 6)
Family	Nucci Gualtieri (adopted mother, biological aunt) Gerry Gualtieri (adopted brother, biological cousin) Rose Gualtieri (adopted sister, biological cousin)
Relatives	Russ (biological father) Dottie Gualtieri (biological mother, "aunt") Marianucci "Nucci" Gualtieri (aunt) Paulie Germani ("nephew")
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri is a fictional character played 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 from the age of nine. He dropped out of school after the ninth grade and spent time in and out of juvenile correctional facilities during his early youth. When he was seventeen, he officially became an enforcer/bodyguard for "Johnny Boy" Soprano, Tony's father and captain in the DiMeo crime family. His mother, later discovered to be his aunt, worked at a Kresge's department store during Paulie's childhood and early adulthood, but has since retired. Paulie's grandfather, who emigrated to the United States in 1910, is from Ariano Irpino, a municipality in the province of Avellino, in Italy's Campania region. Paulie's grandfather and Tony's paternal grandparents were from the same province in Italy.

Paulie spent four years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where he was eventually drummed out through Section 8 (discharged because of psychiatric reasons). Although Paulie did not have a long military career, he still is proud of it, and few of the other Sopranos characters had military experience. Afterwards, he spent more time in and out of prison on various criminal charges. Eventually, he works his way up through the DiMeo crime family, reaching the rank of Captain in 2000, shortly after Anthony "Tony" Soprano becomes the de facto boss. In 2006, Paulie is promoted to underboss, and Christopher Moltisanti is put in charge of Paulie's crew, which earlier was Tony's crew. Paulie got his nickname "Paulie Walnuts" due to hijacking a truck in the early 1990s which he believed to be filled with television-sets, but only contained walnuts. His surname is taken from real life DeCavalcante crime family mobster Frank Gualtieri, who served under Vincent Palermo.