All you Goodfella fanatics probably know this, but I was amused to see Tony Sirico in the opening scenes of Goodfellas. I loved his slicked down hair - no wings back then. BTW, I just got the DVD for my birthday. I got tired of the hacked up versions on TNT, AE, AMC, etc.

For a guy without a lot of movie experience to that time, Tony got two choice bits. The first, that interplay with Tuddy until Paulie comes out, is classic. The other was even better, when he approaches the mailman and says, "Excuse me...scumBAIG!" Great!

Would have been nice to see more screen time with Tony Sirico in Goodfellas.

The first half hour of the film is my favorite. The narration by Ray Liotta is perfect. Paul Sorvino's expressions are priceless.

One of the interesting things about Sorvino is that, as convincing as he was as a street gangster boss, he has a very cultured, trained voice. He's also an opera singer, and he does narratives on many programs seen in the US on History Channel, A&E, etc.

Paul Sorvino is a trained opera singer??

Wow! I never knew that. Thank you for another priceless nugget of information TB

You're welcome, Yogi!
Lots of actors and actresses make decent money doing the voice-overs for documentaries shown on US TV. The residuals are worth plenty, too.

Here's a side-story about residuals:

When I was in high school, I had an after-school job delivering advertising copy for one of the big NYC daily newspapers. A guy who worked as a clerk in the department also was a songwriter. He hated R&R--he was strictly ballads and Broadway-type tunes. Since this was the late Fifties, he made zilch from his non-R&R songwriting. But like most songwriters, he also wrote jingles for radio and TV commercials (or adverts, if you prefer). He just happened to write a jingle for Kent cigarettes, which was then the largest-selling brand in the US. Kent liked it, and literally blitzed the airwaves with his jingle. They used it for at least three years, probably more, which was some kind of a record. He got a few cents per airplay. It made him a millionaire.

I would love to know more about Tony Sirico, I wonder how long he was an associate of the Colombo family for?
Must have been a while if he got arrested 28 times!
I know there were weapons charges and apparently drug possesion.
But I wonder what else and if he was ever in contention to get made?

You can find his bio on Wikipedia, which has some stuff on his years with the Columbo family.

I didn't know he was with the Columbo family. Did the family give him a hard time getting out?

I guess just being an associate he didn't have too much trouble getting out of the life, well in comparison to a made guy anyway.
I wonder how close he was to or if he ever was close to getting made?

One of the benefits of being an unmade (associate) person with a family is that you can get out. Another question: was he really associated with the Columbos in any formal sense, or did he embellish his "credentials" to enhance his value as a gangster actor?

Good point Turnbull, I'd love to hear it out of the horses mouth.
Be interesting to know how factual it all is and the intricate details.

He had a small role in Gotti also. It's ashame that he's not in bigger roles. Paulie Walnuts may be the biggest role he'll ever have. I'd like to see him star in something.