“Blessed by his memory”—The Wire’s Chris Bauer pays tribute to co-star Charley Scalies following his death

Charley Scalies is a well-known face when it comes to acting. The actor died recently at the age of 84, leaving fans, friends, and family disheartened.

On his co-actor's demise, Bauer took to the social media platform X to pay a heartwarming tribute to the actor.

Bauer posted a photograph of Scalies in a funky t-shirt and alcohol in his hands, remembering the good times that he shared with the actor.

The caption of the post read,

"Top 3 scene partners, and an easy continuous laugh. Blessed by his memory and example."

Chris Bauer and Charley Scalies worked together on the sets of the second season of The Wire in the year 2003. The two share a close professional relationship and were supposedly good friends. Bauer played the role of Frank Sabotka, while Scalies portrayed the character of Thomas 'Horseface' Pakusa, a loyal lieutenant to Sabotka.

Bauer has often praised Scalies and revealed that he had a positive influence on Bauer's life. Bauer has also mentioned that Scalies is a generous individual who is hard-working and a strong character.

Bauer has also acted in some noteworthy shows such as The Deuce, Heels, and True Blood. Apart from these, he is also known for his work in shows like Survivor's Remorse and Third Watch.

About Charley Scalies demise

Charley Scalies was best known for playing the role of Thomas 'Horseface' Pakusa, one of the union members and stevedores in the second season of HBO's The Wire. He also played the character of Tony's high school football coach in The Sopranos in a dream sequence.

In The Wire, Scalies played Horseface, a jailed former longshoreman from the Port of Baltimore who is loyal to his corrupt employer, Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer), in all 12 episodes of HBO's The Wire during its second season in 2003.

Scalies recently passed away at the age of 84 on Thursday at a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Anne Marie Scalies, daughter of Charley Scalies, told the Hollywood Reporter that Scalies had been battling Alzheimer's disease for a long time.

Scalies had often mentioned that the character of Horseface was his favorite out of all the characters that he played. In an interview he gave in the year 2019, he said the character of Horseface lives inside him.

"As with all the other characters I’ve been blessed to portray, Horseface lives inside of me, I invite him out to play as needed.” said Scalies.

Charles Joseph Scalies Jr. was the youngest of three children, born on July 1940. He was brought up in South Philadelphia. Scalies used to live in a house above his father's pool hall, where he used to entertain guests.

As per the Hollywood Reporter, Scalies mentioned in an interview that he and a friend did a stand-up comedy act and played 'every beef and beer they could find.' After college Scalies worked as the director of sales and contracts at Clifton Precision, which was a manufacturing firm. He later opened his own firm.

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It was during the 1990s that Scalies decided to go back to acting. He played the characters of the Cowardly Lion in Wizard of Oz, Billy Flynn in Chicago, and Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys & Dolls. He has acted in Liberty Heights and Homicide before shifting to television.

He has also written a screenplay titled It Takes Balls.

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