Charley Scalies, an actor who starred as Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa on the second season of The Wire, has passed away at age 84. Scalies died at a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, on Thursday following a long battle with Alzheimer's, his daughter confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter. He appeared as Horseface, a stevedore and union man devoted to his crooked boss, in all 12 episodes of The Wire's second season in 2003. He also appeared in a dream sequence on season five of The Sopranos, portraying lead character Tony's high school football coach, and in Cold Case, Law & Order, and the 2004 Ben Affleck-led film Jersey Girl.
Born in Philadelphia in 1940, Scalies lived above his father's pool hall, "where he entertained patrons with jokes and Al Jolson impressions as a kid," per the Reporter. He got into stand-up comedy in high school. After established his own consulting firm, he returned to the stage in the early 1990s, landing roles in theater productions with the St. Francis Players in Springfield. In 1995, he nabbed bit parts in several movies, including Two Bits starring Al Pacino, and the following year, played a cop in two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, produced by The Wire creator David Simon. "His favorite audience was always seated around the dinner table," reads an obituary, per Variety. He's survived by his wife of 62 years, Angeline; five children; and four grandchildren. (More obituary stories.)
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