Character actor Charley Scalies, who had roles in the hit HBO dramas The Wire and The Sopranos, has died. He was 84.
The passing was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, with Scalies’ daughter Anne Marie Scalies telling the outlet he died on Thursday (May 1) in a Pennsylvania nursing home after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Born on July 19, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scalies started his career performing on stage at community and dinner theater productions in the early 1990s, appearing in the likes of Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and The Wizard of Oz.
He made his on-screen debut in 1995 alongside Al Pacino in the James Foley-directed movie Two Bits. That same year, Scalies also appeared in the Terry Gilliam film 12 Monkeys and the Finnish-American thriller Condition Red.
On the small screen, Scalies played Sgt. Sal Burns in two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, based on the book by David Simon. After a one-off episode of Law & Order in 1997, Scalies would once again collaborate with Simon when he joined Season 2 of The Wire, portraying dockworker Thomas ‘Horseface’ Pakusa for 12 episodes in 2003.
He also starred as Coach Molinaro in Season 5 of The Sopranos, in the episode titled “The Test Dream.” His other credits include Law & Order: SVU and Cold Case.
According to his online obituary, Scalies also held the position of Director of Sales and Contracts at Clifton Precision, a company known for precision manufacturing. He also established his own consulting firm, focusing on ISO 9000 auditing and quality management systems.
After his acting career, Scalies ventured into screenwriting, authoring a screenplay titled It Takes Balls, inspired by his father’s pool room in Philadelphia.
“Charley emphasized the importance of family, stating that loving their mother, spending quality time, and teaching respect and hard work were key elements of fatherhood,” his obit reads. “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.”
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Angeline M. Scalies, his five children and four grandchildren.
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
