Beloved character actor Charley Scalies died Thursday at age 84 following a battle with Alzheimer’s.
Scalies’ daughter Anne Marie Scalies revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that her father died Thursday at a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
Scalies portrayed loyal stevedore Thomas ‘Horseface’ Pakusa on 12 episodes of The Wire through the present’s second season in 2003.
The sophomore body of the enduring collection from creator David Simon carefully examined the financial points Baltimore dockworkers confronted amid altering instances.
Scalies additionally appeared in an episode of one other iconic HBO collection – The Sopranos – as he performed Coach Molinaro, the highschool soccer coach of Tony Soprano, performed by late legend James Gandolfini.
The character appeared in an intense exchange in a dream scene in an episode titled The Test Dream.
The Sopranos solid’s twenty fifth anniversary celebration was held at NYC’s Da Nico Ristorante on January 10, 2024
Charley Scalies performed Coach Molinaro, Tony Soprano’s highschool soccer coach, in a dream scene that confirmed the insecurities the troubled mob boss confronted (and sought to deal with via remedy).
The dialogue between the coach – who noticed potential in a younger Soprano – and the fully-grown Tony Soprano illustrated the psychological insecurities the fearsome New Jersey mob boss harbored, and sought to address through therapy.
The episode (which first aired May 16, 2004) was the present’s eleventh episode of its fifth season, directed by Allen Coulter and written by Matthew Weiner and Sopranos creator David Chase.
A Legacy obituary – which famous Scalies died ‘peacefully’ – emphasised the position household performed in his life.
It famous he was ‘greatest recognized at the beginning as a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and good friend,’ including that his ‘favourite viewers was at all times seated across the dinner desk.’
The obit described Scalies, a local of South Philadelphia, as ‘an American actor and former enterprise govt whose life mirrored a wealthy mix {of professional} achievement, artistic ardour, and a real pleasure for all times.’
Season two of The Wire confirmed how the gradual instances at the docks led a number of employees – together with Pakusa – to earn further money smuggling in contraband. Amid the gadgets unwittingly smuggled in by the Baltimore crew medication and girls tragically trafficked into the U.S. to be intercourse employees.
On The Wire, the Horseface character was second-in-command to union chief Frank Sobotka (performed by Chris Bauer), who had gotten right into a determined scenario making an attempt to maintain his union and employees afloat amid declining instances for the longshoremen.
Sobotka, assisted by Horseface and his nephew Nick Sobotka (performed by Pablo Schreiber) ultimately resort to legal smuggling to fund political efforts in a last-ditch effort to reinvigorate enterprise at the docks.
Scalies died at age 84 following a battle with Alzheimer’s, in keeping with his household
He performed Coach Molinaro, Tony Soprano’s highschool soccer coach, in The Sopranos
He had a memorable trade with a grown Tony Soprano (performed by the late James Gandolfini) that exposed the insecurities the mob boss harbored
Scalies posed with Gandolfini through the manufacturing of the favored HBO collection
Soboktka’s wayward son Ziggy (performed by James Ransone, additionally will get concerned peripherally, resulting in tragic penalties down the road.
Dailymail.com has reached out to Simon, Bauer, Schreiber and Ransone, in addition to their reps, for additional touch upon this story.
‘The solely time I’ve even been on the docks is once I labored on The Wire,’ Scalies informed Chesapeake Bay Magazine in 2019.
Scalies stated that ‘the one time I even met a stevedore was shortly after I used to be solid as Horseface.’
The position was an ideal match, as shortly after touchdown the half, Scalies occurred to speak with a number of real-life stevedores and union reps for the International Longeshoremen’s Association, who all authorised of his casting.
‘I informed them I had simply been solid as a union “checker” on a TV present,’ he recalled. ‘Their response was fast and unanimous: “He looks like a checker.”‘
Scalies defined: ‘As with all the opposite characters I’ve been blessed to painting, Horseface lives within me – I invite him out to play as wanted.’
On Twitter, quite a lot of followers of the present paid homage to the late actor within the position he performed on The Wire, making inside references to scenes that concerned his character.
Scalies portrayed Thomas ‘Horseface’ Pakusa for 12 episodes of The Wire
Scalies was pictured reverse actor James Ransone, who performed the position of misguided dock employee Chester ‘Ziggy’ Sobotka on the feted collection
A put up from The Wire fan account Ziggy_Sobotka learn: ‘Heartbroken to report that Charlie Scalies, Horseface on The Wire and Coach Molinaro from The Sopranos has handed away’
Fans made reference to the character’s greatest moments, together with a key scene that confirmed Horseface caring for an injured colleague
One fan posted a GIF from a crucial scene from the present involving the late Michael Ok. Williams, who performed the character Omar
Another posted a meme of Nick Sobotka (performed by Pablo Schreiber) – a key character within the season two storyline
A put up from the Wire fan account Ziggy_Sobotka learn: ‘Heartbroken to report that Charlie Scalies, Horseface on The Wire and Coach Molinaro from The Sopranos has handed away.’
It concluded: ‘Charles J. Scalies, Jr. 7/19/1940 – 5/1/2025.’
One fan commented, ‘Great characters RIP to the legend.’
Another stated, ‘R. I. P. He’s nonetheless on the clock.’
Referring to a scene illustrating Horseface’s loyalty to the union, one fan wrote, ‘Good luck to St Peter getting something out of him at the pearly gates with out an IBS lawyer current.’
One Twitter person aptly remarked, ‘At what age does demise not break your coronary heart?’
According to the Legacy obit, Scalies is survived by ‘the real love and pleasure of his life, his spouse of 62 years, Angeline M. Scalies (née Cardamone); his 5 kids: Charles (Chuck) Scalies III, Angeline Kogut (Steve Kogut), Anthony (Tony) Scalies, Christa Ann Scalise, and Anne Marie Scalies (Shawn Weaver); and grandchildren Charles IV, Christopher, Domenic and Amelia Scalies.’
