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"All due respect, you got no f**king idea what it's like to be number one. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other f**king thing. It's too much to deal with almost. And in the end you're completely alone with it."The pressures of running 'the family' have taken their toll on Tony. As the acting boss of the DiMeo family, Anthony Soprano heads the most powerful criminal organization in New Jersey. A second-generation wise guy, he's the son of the late Johnny Boy Soprano, a DiMeo capo who brought his boy into his profession and showed him the ropes. After Johnny's death, Tony was mentored by his old man's closest associates, Hesh Rabkin, Jackie Aprile, and Pussy Bonpensiero, as well as Johnny's older brother, Corrado "Junior" Soprano.Tony was born in 1959 and grew up in Newark and West Orange, New Jersey. Violence was a staple of his childhood: he once witnessed his dad and uncle viciously beating a guy for being late with a numbers payment. Another time he watched Johnny Boy amputate a debtor's finger with a meat cleaver. And though he never struck his two daughters, when Tony transgressed his father sent him flying. Tony's mother, Livia, was busy doling out emotional beatings. Depressive and paranoid, Livia was incapable of affection — she once threatened to plunge a fork into her son's eye — and constantly told Tony he'd never amount to anything.&nbsp;It should come as no surprise then that Tony ended up in therapy.&nbsp;

"Last year I made bail so fast, my soup was still warm when I got home."Silvio Dante didn't always want to be a mobster. His dream as a youth was to make it big as a singer. But while the spirit was willing, the pipes were weak; Silvio ended up managing topless dancers instead. He's operated several clubs in Asbury Park and currently owns the Bada Bing, where he regularly regales his associates with a legendary impression of Al Pacino. Silvio's a family man in the literal sense as well: he and his wife, Gabriella have a teenage daughter, Heather, a soccer star her father refers to as "the principessa."Silvio's function in the Soprano crew is as consigliere to Tony, a task to which he's well suited. Like the other members of Tony's inner circle, he's been around the business his entire life. Unlike Tony's other confidantes, however, Silvio is not a slave to his impulses.&nbsp;

"Two years ago I thought RICO was a relative of his."Dr. Jennifer Melfi is probably the last person anyone would expect to be associated with organized crime. Her private life is unassuming; she's divorced with a son who attends Bard College. Professionally, she is a respected psychiatrist in private practice. One day, however, she opened the door to her waiting room and came face to face with la cosa nostra personified: Tony Soprano. Referred by his neighbor, the notorious capo was seeking treatment for anxiety attacks. That meeting was a seminal event in Melfi's life — one that she often wishes had never happened.Though she's frustrated with his inability to tell her things, in the end, Dr. Melfi may be the only person who truly knows Tony Soprano.

"Maybe you pass out because you're guilty over something. Maybe the fact you stick your d**k in anything with a pulse."Carmela DeAngelis first laid eyes on her future husband in high school, where she and Tony Soprano appeared to be worlds apart from each other. Whereas Tony was an uninspired student and outsider, Carmela was studious and popular. Carmela had her sights set on college; Tony seemed destined for a life in the New Jersey rackets. That these two opposites would attract — let alone marry and build a life together — might, at first, seem surprising. But on closer examination, they almost seem made for each other.Carmela was acquainted with gangster life long before she took her first ride in Tony's Trans Am. One of her cousins was a mob tough who was gunned down in front of his own house. All things considered, it's not so surprising that Carmela quit her studies in Business Administration at Montclair State University and became Mrs. Anthony Soprano.As wife of Tony, and mother of Meadow and Anthony Jr. she is torn between the perks (McMansion, furs, jewelry) and pitfalls (Tony’s affairs, FBI raids, murdered relatives) of being First Lady of NJ mob.

"Tony was right, he set me straight...No more distractions. Focus. Eye on the prize."Christopher Moltisanti is Tony's nephew and Carmela's first cousin. His father Dickie Moltisanti was something of a mentor to the youthful Tony. So when the senior Moltisanti was shot to death, Tony, in turn, took Christopher under his wing. As Christopher remembers very little of his father — he was still in diapers when Dickie was killed — Tony's the closest thing he's ever had to a paternal figure.Given his violent and addictive impulses, Christopher has a tough road to make it from cugine to made man.

"...I was born, grew up, spent a few years in the army, a few more in the can and here I am, a half o' wise guy."Peter Paul Gualtieri, arguably the most meticulously coiffed and manicured capo in the Soprano crew, was something of a child prodigy. He first displayed the skills he'd utilize in his chosen profession at the tender age of nine: while other kids were dreaming of wielding a bat like the Mick, Paulie was deploying one on a schoolmate's skull. In and out of juvenile correctional facilities for the next several years, Paulie eventually dropped out of school altogether; at seventeen, he became an enforcer for Johnny Boy Soprano. Thereafter his movement up the ranks was steady, albeit punctuated by the occasional prison stretch and an army hitch abbreviated by a Section 8.Though he's had his fair share of goomars, the only Mrs. Gualtieri has been Nucci, Paulie's mother — on whom he dotes with the reverence of a true son of Italy.

"All this over some whore?"If the mafia gave out a Mr. Congeniality Award, Ralph Cifaretto would never be in contention for it. Mr. Obnoxious, however, would be his in a walk. Sarcastic, belligerent and misogynistic — even by wise guy standards — Ralph is easily Tony's least favorite business associate. Despite being a very smart man (albeit one who dropped out of school in the eleventh grade), Ralph is prone to making grossly inappropriate comments at the worst possible moment.&nbsp;

"I'm gonna be a licensed massage therapist. It's like a chiropractor, just not as prestigious."Tony Blundetto is Tony Soprano's first cousin and one of his closest childhood friends. Their mothers were sisters; Tony B.'s mom is Quintina Pollio Blundetto. Although Tony B. is also related to Christopher Moltisanti (Christopher's mother's maiden name was Blundetto), the two Tonys were born the same year and grew up as close as brothers.Like his cousin, Tony B. was once a rising star in the mob, but his career was cut short at 28 when he was sent to prison for 15 years for hijacking a truck — a heist Tony S. was supposed to be in on.

"Sometimes you gotta do things you don't want to...If you're lookin' for a purpose in life, doin' what's right is your purpose."The big brother Tony never had. Heavy-set and gregarious, he values family above all else and has a special knack with kids. That doesn't mean he’s a pushover. He made his bones with Johnny Boy Soprano's crew, and rumor has it he acquired his nickname because he was once a cat burglar. (The "Big" was appended to distinguish him from another wise guy with a feline moniker, Little Pussy Malenga.)

"Did (other) kids ever find fifty thousand dollars in Krugerrands and a .45 automatic while they were hunting for Easter eggs?"Tony and Carmela’s firstborn: pretty, bright, and talented, always an honor student. Meadow is tough and clear-eyed about her father's profession. She figured out at an early age that Tony wasn't really in the non-putrescable waste business. Meadow's opinion had always been that her father is no worse than the "solid citizens" who work as lawyers for tobacco companies. They may not always like her boyfriends or her temper tantrums, but she’s their princess.

"You know what really pisses me off about my dad? He did all these really great things, then, before he was my dad...now he's just an asshole."Tony's second born and namesake, Anthony Soprano, Jr. is capable of causing his father more agita than the FBI's entire New Jersey Field Office.&nbsp;A below-average student who gets into above-average trouble. No way will he follow in Tony’s footsteps; he couldn’t fill them.

"Unfortunately, because of her husband's high profile in the waste industry, Carmela's the one who bears the brunt of these insults. But there were many of us who were equally offended."Gabriella "Gabby" Dante is the wife of Silvio and the mother of their college student daughter, Heather. A member of the close-knit sorority of New Jersey mob wives, Gabriella spends a lot of time with her "sisters" and is fiercely loyal to them.

"Next time there won't be a next time."A longtime captain in the Lupertazzi family, Phil Leotardo was one of several wiseguys who were sent to prison in the "Mafia crackdown" of the 1980's. Phil was always very good at his job; he has an alleged 27 hits to his credit and can literally scare the piss out of people. When he was released from prison, he didn't waste any time getting back on the payroll.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

"Oh, yeah. Be one of those wives like Carmela Soprano...breast feed a bunch of rugrats, then spend the rest of your life at the gym, just you and your stretch marks."Christopher’s fiancée and a mobster’s dream girl: smart, engaging and a body that could star at the Bada Bing. Jackie and Richie Aprile’s niece knows what it is to be married to the mob, so she goes into it with her eyes wide open, eager to embrace the lifestyle.

"Honey, I'm not Adriana. I'm healthy, our baby's healthy. Stop worrying and enjoy this time, OK?"Kelli Lombardo Moltisanti wasn't expecting a lifelong commitment from her new boyfriend Christopher, and when she told him she was pregnant, she also told him "I'll take care of it." But the volatile capo surprised her with a proposal, and took her house shopping the next day.Now Kelli suddenly finds herself in a place she never expected: living in a suburban villa, spending holiday dinners with Tony and the famiglia — and vying with drugs and a new goomar for her husband's attention.

Gloria Trillo has the distinction of being the woman in the briefest and most intense affair of Tony's life. No ordinary goomara, she's a smart, beautiful career woman, and a top sales rep at Globe Mercedes. 

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Ralph Cifaretto

Played by Joe Pantoliano

About the Series

The Sopranos (HBO)

Featured Characters

See All

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