Sopranos’ star Joseph Siravo dies at 66
 

Sopranos’ star Joseph Siravo dies at 66

Jim Beckerman NorthJersey.com USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY First we lost Tony Soprano. Now we’ve lost his dad.

Joseph Siravo, who played Giovanni Francis 'Johnny Boy' Soprano on five flashback episodes of 'The Sopranos,' has died at the age of 66. He had been battling cancer since 2017.

James Gandolfini of Park Ridge, who played his on-screen son, died of a heart attack in 2013.

'Joe was an excellent actor and a wonderful guy and he will be missed dearly,' said actor Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) on Instagram. 'Until the next life my friend.'

Though 'Johnny Boy' Soprano was not a series regular, he was a key figure in the iconic HBO crime drama — which, after all, deals with the various mental hangups of suburban mobster Tony Soprano, as unpacked in the psychiatrist’s office of Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). A great many of those problems, naturally, had to do with his mother, the diabolical Livia (Nancy Marchand, who passed in 2000, early in the run of the show) and his father, crime kingpin 'Johnny Boy' Soprano.

It was dad who — in every sense of the term — made Tony Soprano.

'Johnny Boy’s death affected Tony’s life, because of how it affected Livia and her relationship with Tony,' said Marc Baron, who had walk-ons in several 'Sopranos' episodes, and conducts the 'Soprano Site Tour' for On Location Tours. 'Isn’t that the core of Tony’s sessions with Dr. Melfi?'

Siravo does not appear in the listed cast of the upcoming 'Sopranos' theatrical prequel, 'The Many Saints of Newark,' now scheduled for release September 24 (simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max) which deals with the early years of Tony Soprano in the Essex County of the 1960s. But many aspects of that film seem to be closely guarded secrets.

'It’s been very tight lipped and there’s a lot of speculation,' Baron said.

Baron didn’t work with Siravo personally, but he heard good things. 'Many actors I know worked with him and said he was a great guy,' he said.

Siravo, originally from Washington D.C., had a varied career in movies, theater and television. He played several Gottis: John in the theatrical feature 'The Wannabe' (2015) and Gene in the TV-movie 'Witness to the Mob' (1998). He was Ron Goldman’s father in the FX series 'The People v. O.J. Simpson.'

On TV he appeared on 'Law and Order' and 'The Blacklist.' Filmgoers saw him in 'Motherless Brooklyn,' 'Shark Tale,' and 'Night Falls on Manhattan.' And he had extensive stage credits: 'Conversations with My Father,' 'The Boys from Syracuse' and 'Light in the Piazza' on Broadway; 'Gemini' 'Major Crimes' and 'Barber of Seville' off-Broadway; and 'Jersey Boys' on tour. Locally he played in Chekhov’s 'Three Sisters' at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison.

'He was so great!' tweeted Steven

Van Zandt, the Springsteen guitarist who played Silvio on the show. 'Deepest love and condolences to his family. Big loss.' Email:

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