The Real Sopranos vs. T.V. Sopranos (DeCavalcante Family)

The real New Jersey Mob is the DeCavalcante family, but what we see on t.v., about the luxurious, prestigious life of crime promoted by well connected people (as seen on T.V. by The Sopranos) is often embellished.

In the case of this "Real Sopranos" documentary, it shows some of the funny but sometimes sad similarities between the real life New Jersey Mob and the HBO hit series "The Sopranos" that we all came to know and love.

• A boss dieing of Stomach Cancer -- like in the first season
• A high ranking mafia member killed for being homosexual -- like Vito
• Fighting for New York's approval -- always
• Running a strip club for legitimate income -- like Tony Soprano 
• Robbing the World Trade Center and getting caught -- not a well thought out plan
• How fast your so called family will turn and rat
• How fast your family will expect you of ratting

The Sopranos: Paulie "walnuts" Gualtieri

Paulie "Walnuts" or  Tony Sirico was one of my more favorite characters in the Sopranos. He was a cold blooded character with a sometimes child like personalty, a tattle-tell and a complainer to say the least, but all business when it came to the Mafia. Paulie racked up more kills in the series than any other characters.

What some people may not know about Paulie "Walnuts" is that he was actually involved in criminal activity before he became an actor. In-fact, Sirico was investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office for alleged extortionate activity against the owners of several nightclubs. On February 27, 1970, he was arrested and subsequently indicted for extortion and menacing but plea-bargained to a charge of felony gun possession. Early in 1971, he was sentenced to a maximum of four years, of which he served 20 months. Since then, Sirico has had no further trouble with the law.

Although, never completely confirmed, but it is said that the reason Sirico walks with a slight limp is because he was injured during his days of causing trouble.