I just read a review in the Wall Street Journal of a new book about late actor James Gandolfini, lead star on HBO’s The Sopranos, aptly titled Gandolfini. As Tony Soprano, Mr. Gandolfini participated in a marathon defamation of Italian Americans spanning six cable seasons with a total of 86 episodes reaching over 13 million viewers at its height. If the Guinness World Records had a category for longest-running ethnic defamation The Sopranos would cop the prize.
What is interesting about The Sopranos is that it is not standard fare on cable like The Godfather series or the scores of other mafia movies. To see The Sopranos these days you need to borrow a DVD from your local library or stream it on Max, Prime Video, Apple TV, or Hulu. As limited as this sounds, the fan base and endless critical acclaim for this series easily approach those of The Godfather.
James Gandolfini had a lot on his mind which made him tough to work with on the set. One inkling into his problems was this quote by an old friend, “[Jim] felt like his mom and dad had both worked too hard making sure their kids got a good education to end up playing, you know, somebody that was not representing Italians very well.”
This has to be the first time such a feeling by a mob-star has been made public. You won’t hear DeNiro ever say it or the rest of the Hollywood goombahs. The typical refrains are “You gotta admit there’s a Mafia,” or “Actors gotta eat,” or “These are the only parts they offer Italian American actors.” All true, but organized crime became synonymous with Italian Americans through the efforts of Puzo, Coppola, Scorsese, and Chase (aka di Cesare). And these instigators never expressed the guilt James Gandolfini shared.
Gandolfini died of a heart attack at age 51. No doubt stress played a part. He hated the 14-hour filming schedule and the complexity of his character. He wanted to quit every day. His drinking and eating often got out of hand. He tried valiantly to diversify his roles after Tony Soprano. We can speculate that Jim endured a special agony in spending 86 episodes making a mockery of the values of his own parents. He was trapped by his own talent.
How about the other mob-stars? Do they not have moments of regret? We will never know because the media participates in the cover-up. As many times as Coppola, Scorsese, Chase, DeNiro, Pacino, and others have been interviewed, never a question of ethnic defamation arises. Either the media doesn’t want to rain on the mafia parade or the celebrities ban the questions in advance. Such practices have allowed Ital-bashing to become the only sanctioned defamation.
Our Institute had its own problematic celebrity many years ago. Recently-deceased actor Tony LoBianco (right) came into our fold with his brother John. Both were welcome additions to the diverse membership we had; both were committed to positive Italian images. Tony had played a mobster in The French Connection but assured me such roles were past. He was doing positive Italian roles on Broadway: Fiorello and Arthur Miller’s View from the Bridge. In fact, we organized a theater party to attend Fiorello. Tony was our idol.
Soon, we asked Tony to narrate a 6-minute promotional video for our Project Italia series. Professionally done by our film director Frank Vitale, the video still impresses me. Tony was at his prime physically and professionally. The set was the Bronx Hall of Fame, a double of Rome’s Pantheon.
All was going well until the John Gotti trial in Manhattan in 1992. The NY Post published a photo of Tony attending the trial and mugging hoodlum-style for the camera. The message pained us and led to a falling out.
It is a sad commentary that Italian American actors never coalesced to object to their own stereotyping in movie roles. They can always claim such roles were written, directed, and filmed by fellow Italians. But it will be the actors who carry the albatross. In the words of Meghan Cox Gurdon, who reviewed Gandolfini: “James Gandolfini will always be Tony Soprano.”
And we will always be the culture benighted by organized crime. -JLM
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