Charley Scalies dead: Sopranos and The Wire star dies aged 84

star and The Wire actor Charley Scalies has died, aged 84, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His daughter, Anne Marie Scalies, confirmed the news that her father died on Thursday, while being cared for at a nursing home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

He portrayed Thomas 'Horseface' Pakusa in 12 episodes of The Wire, as well as playing Tony Soprano's childhood football coach, Coach Molinaro in the acclaimed Mafia series. Anne Marie revealed the news to the .

Scalies was the youngest of three children, and was born in Philadelphia in July 1940. While he was growing up, he entertained attendees of his father's pool hall with jokes and impressions.

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An obituary for Scalies was posted on Legacy.com confirmed that the actor was sirvived by his wife of 62 years, Angeline M. Scalies and his five children. The 84-year-old was also a father-of-five, who had four grandchildren.

Part of the obituary read: "Charley emphasised the importance of family, stating that loving their mother, spending quality time, and teaching respect and hard work were key elements of fatherhood. He believed that a father's role is to guide children toward self-sufficiency. His wife, children, and grandchildren will miss his stories but will keep him in their hearts forever."

The actor's funeral will be held pon Thursday 8th May, and his family have asked for donations to be made to the Alzheimer's Assocation in lieu of flowers.

Scalies made his cinema debut in Al Pacino's Two Bits in 1995, before going on to act in The Wire, The Sopranos and Law & Order, amongst others. He also tried his hand at screenwriting, having written a screenplay called It Takes Balls, which was inspired by his childhood experiences in the pool room.

Charley was also Director of Sales and Contracts at Clifton Precision, a company known for precision manufacturing. He later established his own consulting firm, focusing on ISO 9000 auditing and quality management systems.

In 2015 interview with writing blog , Charley revealed five tips for being a good father. He told the blog: "1: Love their mother. 2: Spend as much time with them as you possibly can. Your work may come first but your hobbies come last.

"3: Teach them to respect themselves and others and to work hard for what they want. 4: Listen to them. Don’t be their judge or their critic, be their teacher.

"Loudly applaud every success. Correct them quietly and privately. Hug them – a lot."

His final tip was: "Your job as a father is to ultimately make them self-sufficient, i.e. not need you. When you hear, 'Don’t worry about this Pop, I got it' and you believe them, you can be pretty sure your job is over."

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