Charley Scalies, famous for his roles on iconic shows The Wire and The Sopranos, has died aged 84 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The actor passed away at a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on Thursday, May 1.
Scalies was best-known for his role of dockworker and union member Thomas “Horseface” Pakusa on The Wire, appearing in every episode of the critically-acclaimed show’s second season, released in 2003.
“As with all the other characters I’ve been blessed to portray, Horseface lives inside of me,” the actor said in 2019. “I invite him out to play as needed.”
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On The Sopranos, Scalies played a high school sports coach who appeared in a dream sequence opposite James Gandolfini. As Scalies once told a local reporter, “I’m a good actor. I can sweat on cue.”
Away from the cameras, the lifelong Pennsylvania resident was a devoted family man. “Best known first and foremost as a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend,” reads his public obituary. “Professionally, Charley Scalies was an American actor and former business executive whose life reflected a rich blend of professional achievement, creative passion, and a true joy for life. His favorite audience was always seated around the dinner table.”
The moving obituary went on: “He is survived by the true love and joy of his life, his wife of 62 years, Angeline M. Scalies (née Cardamone); his five children: 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.”
As news broke of the actor’s death, Anne Marie led tributes. “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,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “He saw a father’s duty as leading children towards independence. His tales will be missed by his wife, kids, and grandkids, but his memory will live on in their hearts.”
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As well as his two best-known roles, Scalies also appeared in 1995 movie Two Bits, alongside Al Pacino, and episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and Law and Order. He came to acting after a career in sales and consulting, but was, by all accounts, a born entertainer, doing impressions and telling jokes at his father’s pool hall in his youth.
His memories of the Philadelphia pool hall even inspired a screenplay, It Takes Balls, which he completed in 2015. “ I love a good (real) love story as much as I like to laugh,” he said of the project.
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