Talk:Tony Soprano

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[edit] Tony's rank

The intro states Tony is a Boss, which is a very, very high-ranking position. My understanding from people who watch (I admit I don't) is that he's not quote that high, more like a capo (a couple steps down, but still in control of some people). Also, the actual person he is supposedly based upon was a capo running North Jersey for a New York family. Any ideas? Truce m3 16:37, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

He was based on Vincent"Vinnie Ocean"Palermo from the DeCalvelcante Family in NJ that no longer exists. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.238.178.49 (talk) 05:26, 13 October 2007 (UTC)



In the pilot, Tony is unofficial acting boss of the family, although technically still a capo. By season two he comes to an arrangement with his Uncle Junior (who is under house arrest), which makes Tony official acting boss who runs the family's crime operations, with Uncle Junior as nominal head of the family. There is a scene with an organization chart that the FBI is using where they change Tony from "capo" to "street boss". Because of Uncle Junior's mental decline, Tony later becomes official boss of the DiMeo crime family, which is acknowledged by the Lupertazzi family of New York. During a dispute over an investment in the episode, "In Camelot", Phil Leotardo scoffs at the DiMeo family as being a "glorified crew", but he is still ordered by his boss, Johnny Sack, to make a proper payment to Tony. The infobox on the article's main page clarifies that Tony was a capo during the first season and boss (in various capacities) in the following seasons so that part of the intro seems fine to me. Pericles899 23:48, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Main Character Status

Appeared as a star in every episode of the show to date. Included in HBOs character list. Definite main character. -Opark77

no question

I question if Tony is the only character to appear in every episode -- what about Carmela? In which episode did she not appear?

Tony is the boss from mid-way through the first season on--the other captains and he enter into an agreement where he will make policy and Junior will be a figurehead--shortly after Jackie Aprile, Sr. dies and so all these modifiers about Tony being 'Underboss' 'De Facto Boss' 'Acting Boss' and so on are unnecessary. DiMeo and Junior are non-entities and there is no reason that they diminish Tony's position as boss. Also Tony is a captain at the beginning of season one, not underboss. Joseph 'Beppy' Sasso is the underboss, officially.

[edit] Nickname?

I heard in a radio interview recently with the actor who plays Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini, that he himself refers to the character as Tony "the power" Soprano when on the set. Did anyone else hear this interview or has a source on the set?

but the character Tony Soprano does not have any nicknames correct?

[edit] Distant relationship with two children?

The article says as of 01/01/06: "...a very distant relationship with his two children, Meadow and Anthony, Jr.". Am I the only one begging to differ on this? elpincha 17:10, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah... that doesn't sound right. Would it be a "complicated" or "troubled" relationship? Or is it even that atypical for your modern family? --W.marsh 18:03, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

i don't think we should classify the type of relationship Tony shares with his kids because it seems to vary every episode, which is quite typical of an everyday family.

[edit] Dream State

I appreciate the link. I think there are multiple explanations that work, though--the Ledger guy is not Chase. To me the fact that no one's suffering suggests it's not really purgatory. Purgatory for Catholics is not a house party. That said, I understand your POV and left it in.

From that article: "I, frankly, would not call those (episode two scenes) dreams," he (Chase) said Tim April 3, 2006 - 17:07
That's interesting, but I don't think it could not be a dream and still not be purgatory.

To me, the fact that he was apparently a lawn furniture salesman--something he alluded to multiple times in early sessions with Melfi--suggests that this what his life might have been like sans org crime. So I left both versions in. Hope this compromise works.

[edit] Infidelity

I want to add something about Tony's extramaritial activities. It's one of his key personality traits. He displays a total lack of ability to be faithful to Carmela. Perhaps, something along the lines of: Tony is frequently unfaithful to his wife. His affairs and one-night stands and his inability to have been a source of conflict between Tony and Carmela, leading to a brief separation in their marriage. Affairs have included Mercedes saleswoman Gloria Trillo and Russian dancer Irina Peltsin. That's a little awkward. Can anyone do better? - Tim - 05:48 25 February 2006

Not sure if I can do better, but I can add some information. In Season 5 Christopher Multisanti states that Tony has been "the biggest cooze-hound around" for the last few years, implying that he did not have as many affairs earlier in his marriage and the rampant infidelity was a relatively recent development.
During the scene in the guest house in Whitecaps, Carmela runs down a list of times Tony has been unfaithful, extending back to when Meadow and AJ were kids.

[edit] Tony's IQ

Tony's IQ has never been revealed. He Told Johnny Sac that it was the same as Tony Blundetto's, to impress Johnny. It seems clear from his earlier conversation with Dr. Melfi about his cousin's IQ that Tony doesn't even understand the meaning of IQ scores, so, I deleted the reference to Tony S.' IQ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.43.234.32 (talk • contribs)

  • Feel free to remove it... but per WP:V we we really aren't supposed to draw conclusions from a primary source like a TV show, no matter how strongly we may believe it's the correct conclusion. We'd need a secondary source (say, a review of the episode) to fairly interpret why Tony said it. --W.marsh 14:19, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
  • I disagree. He certainly understands the meaning of the IQ test, and he didn't tell Johnny that his IQ was the same as Tony B's. Tony B's IQ was reputed to be much higher than the '136' Tony Soprano revealed to Johnny Sack. Tony B's IQ was supposed to be in the 150's.-24.186.220.44 04:08, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tony's Quirks

I've added a section relating to Tony's quirks. For years I've marvelled at how Tony eats, moving the food around incessently with close miking to make the sound seem louder; showing how he is not at rest mentally. Wonder about the other quirks, war movies, etc...Lgreen 05:06, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Good job Lgreen, this is an interesting section. I notice an unregistered user has twice removed the section on Tony's sporting interest without offering a reason. Does anyone else have an opinion on this? If someone else feels it should stay in and it is removed again please could they revert it as I don't want to get into an edit war. If I am the only one interested then I'll let it go - but I don't recall writing it so someone else must have thought it important. --Opark 77 16:26, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
Tony Loves GM suvs? news to me. HE certainly drives them, but I can't think of anywhere in the series that he professes his love for them. I'm changing this. 172.159.106.117 (talk) 21:12, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tony's Mother

Why is there nothing in here about Tony's mother and how she tried to kill him? Lgreen 03:24, 12 May 2006 (UTC) Perhaps because you haven't written it yet!--Opark 77 09:35, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I thought someone would say that...but I don't really recall the details... hate to put something in there that I know is going to have to be corrected. SorryLgreen 04:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

it's pretty self-explanatory for anyone who watched Season 1. His mother was unhappy about being put in a "home" and it was also discovered that his mother is a borderline personality. It is also revealed at this time that Junior is not happy with Tony since discovering that Tony has been acting as boss behind Junior's back and secretly meeting with Junior's capos. There is no point in the actual series where Tony's mother says to Junior, "Let's kill Tony". She merely lets it be known to Junior that she wouldn't be all that upset if something were to happen to Tony.

[edit] Tony's Faith

It seems clear, and has been pointed out to me that Tony is a Tradition Catholic vs. being one of faith. That being said, I notice that whether he has doubts about his faith or not, he always wears what appears to be a religious medal. I have been trying to find out what that medal depicts (a saint? Mary?) as it may have some symbolic significance.

certainly tony is a traditional catholic however in one episode it is suggested that he might actually be an atheist [he's talking to his shrink and goes through the whole thing of who can there be a god with all the stuff happening in the world the convesation started out being about his son who had started reading neitzche] this is met out with his agravation towards anyone who shows strong relegious faith especially if its his sister and before you say it, he pours just as much scorn on her when she becomes a evangelical christian as when shes a hindu. Unregistered text offender 14:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Lets be serious here for a minute: a large portion of Italians may claim to be some sort of Catholic but quite a few of these do not practice the beliefs and sometimes even question their own faith. Not sure religion plays much of a part in the show either so not to sure how relevant the topic is...

[edit] Racist and homophobe

He is clearly both a racist and a homophobe, judging from his treatment of both Meadow's boyfriend and Vito. --DrBat 19:07, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

The entire crime family are homophobes it really nothing to point out its the nature of the beast and tony was the one who showed the most restraint. Phil killed Vito. MrM 09:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Racist and homophobe? I agree, however his treatment of Noah shows the general belief amongst poorly educated Americans, sorry for the stereotyping but it's true. He knows that it will create nothing but problems for his daughter, an inter- racial relationship can have bad repercussions. I've never been to New Jersey however I can guess that an Italian girl dating a mixed race wouldn't make life very easy for her. Besides he's evidently over- protective of Meadow and perhaps since Noah (if I remember the episodes with him in it well) is a well- mannered, hard- working boy he probably couldn't find anything else to justify hindering the relationship besides the race of this mixed. He picked on Jackie Aprile jnr.'s growing ties to the Mafia and his dropping out of school as his poor points when he was involved with Meadow thus proving that, particularly in the case of her boyfriend, he just doesn't want her dating anyone. Rather like how Robert DeNiro in Meet the Parents cites Ben Stiller's character religion (Judaism) out of the blue, in a more subtle put down of him.

82.13.28.123 18:39, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe a racist, subconsciously, but in Season 2, i believe either episode 3 or 4, Tony befriends an old black man and later his son after the old man passes away. So to say he is a racist is not entirely true. Now to say he would not want his daughter marrying a man of another race, that may be true...

And as for the homophob thing, Tony doesn't hate Vito when he finds out he is gay, in fact it's actually the opposite as he tries to bring to light the fact that Vito was a good earner and a good friend. It is only to avoid a war with Phil Leotardo when he actually gives the order to have Vito whacked, not because the guy was a homosexual.

[edit] Based on Real Life Person

Should there be (or not) some reference to the basis of this character in real life? There is consensus among experts that Tony's character is based on Michael Taccetta, a capo who ran the Lucchese family’s New Jersey faction until his incarceration in 1993. See the Crime Library's article. Any thoughts on adding a section? ChÿnaDragön 23:20, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Consensus and confirmation are two completely different things though. Tony is not based on any real life character, as specified by David Chase, but he is in fact based on all the high profile mobsters that Chase familiarized himself with.

He is based on Vincent Palermo from the Decalcante family that used to operate in New Jersey but no longer exists thanks to the feds —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.238.178.49 (talk) 05:28, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Date of Birth?

There was an episode of the Sopranos (the one where Charles Dutton played a traffic cop) where Tony's NJ driver's license showed a date of birth of 1959. What's the source of the 1960 date in the article?

The fact that he celebrates his 47th birthday in 2007 (Soprano Home Movies). Can someone post a screencapture the driver's license clip? There may have been a gaff in the writing of Home Movies. Or possibly Sopranos Home Movies actually takes place in 2006?--MistaTee 16:40, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Various sources indicate that Tony is undergoing a "mid-life crisis". James Gandolfini mentions (in The Sopranos: The Book by Brett Martin; page 60) that Tony is 40 at the beginning of the series (which is set in 1999). Ergo, Tony was born in 1959 and the 47th birthday party is probably set in 2006. After all, there was a big delay between the first and second part of the 6th season.

[edit] Opening section, 'final scene' interpretation

I removed this line from the opening section, which describes the infamous 'final scene'

As Tony sits in the restaurant, various other people in the restaurant are all characters from the past that have a specific grudge with Tony and his operations.

This 'everyone in the diner has a grudge with Tony' theory has been thoroughly debunked. The guy in the diner is NOT "Nikki Leotardo" as that hoax email going around says. The two african american men are NOT the two guys that try to kill Tony in season 1 (they were killed in that episode).

I believe that the one guy is not Nikki Leotardo. But with the two African-Americans that tried to kill Tony and Tony said it was a hijacker. I believe only one of them died. I haven't seen the episode in a while but I will go back and review but I am pretty sure that one died and one got away which also does disprove the e-mail that says that the 2 African-Americans were the attempted murders on Tony/hijackers. If I am wrong about only one dieing then I will come back here to clear it up.

  • Speculation is often WP:OR

However, what is described in http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/15/television.sopranos.reut/index.html is okay to include, as it is not OR and is significant. WhisperToMe 06:09, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fictional Republican?

I've seen every episode of this show except the final 8. Unless Tony reveals his political affiliation in one of these episodes, I'm pretty sure he never mentions belonging to a party. I'm taking him off this list, for now. --Wgbc2032 01:23, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mock Excecution

There has been much discussion about Christophers mock excecution is episode 3 of season 1. Christopher is screaming about Tony and the drugs he gave to Meadow. However Tony knows nothing about the drugs until episode 5 of the same season. Ontop of that he had no idea where Christopher was, and was shocked at his neck. The hitmen were also muttering about Junior under their breath, leading to the only conclusion that it was uncle junior. —Preceding unsigned comment added by IMOcameron (talk • contribs) 06:49, 21 September 2007 (UTC)