Paulie Walnuts' alter ego is looking to rub out a National Enquirer report.
Tony Sirico, who plays perfectly coifed wiseguy Paulie Gaultieri on HBO's The Sopranos, is looking to bust some heads after the tabloid claimed he was in a fight for his life.
According to the upcoming issue of the Enquirer, the 60-year-old actor "is battling deadly cancer that has spread from his mouth to his throat." The supermarket tab adds that Sirico was undergoing intensive radiation therapy but "continues smoking despite doctor's orders."
Sirico's health had come under scrutiny after it was revealed he would miss shooting on some early episodes of The Sopranos current fourth season, necessitating creator David Chase to rewrite several episodes. Paulie began the season in a federal lockup in Ohio on gun charges--away from the rest of the family--so Sirico's scenes could be filmed separately at a later date.
Needless to say, Sirico--who knows a little something about being a jailbird himself after a stint in prison in the late '60s and early '70s for sticking up nightclubs--wasn't exactly taking da news lyin' down.
"Those [bleepers]!," Sirico tells the New York Daily News. "I have no cancer. I've had no radiation and no chemotherapy. It's complete bullshit!"
While the Brooklyn native said he ain't dying, he did cop to having some health problems this year, though not as serious as the Enquirer led on.
"I had a dead saliva gland removed from my tongue," Sirico tells the paper. "I also had a cyst removed from my spine last November. It was a very dangerous operation."
Sirico also revealed that he recently suffered a hernia, meaning he'll have to go back for more surgery.
"I started lifting weights a little too soon after my last operation," he tells the Daily News. "Bada-bing--I ripped one of my stomach walls. I gotta get a little nip and tuck."
Meanwhile, Sirico said he plans to broach the Enquirer matter with Tony Soprano, er, his attorney.
While Sirico says his own predicament is far from dire, his TV gangster character's days might be numbered. An offshore online gambling company called BetWWTS.com has Paulie, who maybe ready to offer his services to a rival family, listed as at 3-to-1 odds for getting whacked this season.