Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul Gaultieri (or Paulie Walnuts), played by Tony Sirico, is one of Tony Soprano's captains in the fictional HBO TV series, The Sopranos.
Template:Spoiler Paulie grew up as a bad street kid. He spent time in and out of juvenile correctional facilities until he became an enforcer for Johnny Boy Soprano, Tony's father. He spent some brief time in the Army where he was eventually drummed out through Section 8 (discharge because of psychiatric reasons). Afterwards, he spent time in and out of prison. Eventually, he worked his way up through the DiMeo crime family, reaching captain under Tony.
Despite his seniority, Paulie is one of the more eccentric of Tony's associates, as expressed by his paranoia, competitiveness, impulsive violence, and often childlike dependence on Tony's approval. The portrayal of Paulie underwent a dramatic change after the late-Season Three episode, "The Pine Barrens." Prior to this episode, Paulie was portrayed as a fiercely loyal and highly capable soldier who was one of Tony's most trusted friends. In the episode, Paulie (along with Christopher) was sent by Tony to make a pickup from a Russian mob associate who owed Silvio money (Silvio was sick and could not make the pickup himself). During the pickup, Paulie took exception when the Russian told him to put "universal remote back on docking station." Paulie responded by tossing the remote on the floor, thereby breaking it and provoking a physical confrontation. Paulie and Christopher subdued the Russian, appearing to break his windpipe, rolled him up in a carpet, stuck him in the trunk of Paulie's car, and drove out to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey to dispose of the body. However, when they opened the truck, they realized that the man, who was formerly a Russian commando, was not dead. Paulie made the man dig his own grave in the frigid cold, but he soon used the shovel to strike both Paulie and Christopher and fled. Paulie and Christopher made chase and eventually Paulie fired a shot that hit the Russian, seemingly fatally in the head. However, when the two hitmen made their way to the area, they discovered that there was no body, although there was blood all over the snow. They spent the next few hours combing the area for the body, but were unable to find it. In the process, they got lost and were unable to find their way back to their car. Eventually, they found refuge in a brokendown, abandoned van and, freezing and starving, called Tony to pick them up. In the phone call, Paulie attempts to blame the physical confortation on Chris. Tony was already irritated over the fact that they had to kill the Russian because he had been using the Russian mob to launder money and did not want the incident to effect his business with them and had previously made it clear to Paulie that the Russian could not be allowed to come back and tell his story. Tony showed up, and, with the assistance of Bobby Baccilieri, was able to locate Paulie and Christopher the following morning. Tony then gave Paulie a choice: either they all could resume the search for the Russian's body or they could leave and go home, in which case all responsibility and reprecussions would fall on Paulie if it turned out the Russian had in fact survived. Paulie chose the later option. It has never been made expressly clear whether the Russian actually died, although the implications are that Paulie's gunshot did kill him, as it is three seasons later on the show (a span of roughly five years in the show's universe) and he has not resurfaced, and has only been briefly mentioned in re-tellings of the storyby Paulie and Chris. Nevertheless, Tony was extremely displeased with the whole episode and Paulie (not believing Paulie's story that it was Christopher's fault) in particular. As a result, Paulie fell out of favor with Tony.
Between Seasons Three and Four, Paulie was arrested in Ohio on a gun possessionn charge. During a brief time in jail, he communicated with Johnny Sack, an underboss of the New York family, while under the false impression that he could earn a place with them. Paulie's wavering loyalty only served to accelerate his marginalisation under Tony since Season Three, as Paulie grew upset after Tony ruled against him in a sitdown with Ralph Cifaretto. Paulie, who had provided Ralphie with the security codes he needed to execute a $100,000 robbery, demanded $50,000 of the take. Ralphie, who had purposefully not picked up Paulie's nephew, Little Paulie Germani, the night of robbery, countered by offering only $5,000, claiming Paulie had not done any of the leg work. Ultimately, Tony ruled that Paulie was entitled to $12,000. Paulie, who had just put his mother in the expensive "Green Grove" retirement community, was especially angered by the ruling, as he had been depending on the $50,000. Paulie also grew jealous of Ralphie's earning ability, which far outpaced Paulie's because of Ralphie's ties to the highly lucrative esplanade project, and Ralphie's consequently rising stock in Tony's eyes. However, by the middle of Season Four, Paulie realized he had been duped by Johnny Sack and that Carmine Lupertazzi had never even heard of him, much less offered him a place in the New York family. Following this development, Paulie once again devoted himself fully to Tony and the DiMeo family, he reclaimed his status as a top earner, and he has seemingly regained his place within Tony's inner circle.
The only person Paulie has a true love for is his mother, whom he watches over constantly. He remains single, unlike most of the other Mafioso, and has well-known "issues" with women. Paulie's goomar (girlfriend) is briefly seen in episode 2.9 ("From Where to Eternity"); she is played by Scrubs actress Judy Reyes.