Soprano Star James Gandolfini Defined The Modern American Mobster

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia at Philly.com offers a piece on James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano and modern gangsters.

We were expecting an order of lead after the onion rings. Instead, the world faded to black, and we were left to wonder.

Now we wonder no more. Tony Soprano, as it turns out, didn't get whacked in North Jersey back in 2007. He died of a heart attack while vacationing in Rome. It happened last week, and the media went nuts.

"Tony Soprano Dead," screamed the front page of the New York Post. "Tony's Dead," countered the New York Daily News, implying that the surname was superfluous.

Even in death, at 51, James Gandolfini was treated as one with the character that defined his brief but acclaimed career. A Jersey guy born and bred, Gandolfini was a damn good character actor. But it was his role as the conflicted mob boss in The Sopranos, the cutting-edge HBO series about the Mafia and America, that made him a star.

Tony Soprano was the face of the American mob at the start of the 21st century. John Gotti, Vincent Gigante, Nicky Scarfo, and Joey Merlino might have been the real-life characters whose names showed up in headlines and at the top of racketeering indictments. But for most Americans, it was Tony.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130623_Gandolfini_defined_the_modern_American_mobster.html

How James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano Became TV's Favorite Mobster, Monster And Tormented Therapy Patient

Jim Shelly at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a piece on the late James Gandolfini, who died in Italy at age 51, and his popular TV character, mobster Tony Soprano.

Unlike any other mobster since Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Gandolfini's performance had two great facets: he made Tony both palpably human and compelling complex.

He could switch from a character of immense, charm, warmth and vulneability to the most intense, charmless violence in a second; from big noble bear to cold-eyed shark

You can read the rest of the story, view photos and a video clip featuring James Gandolfini in his best roles, via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2345049/James-Gandolfini-How-Tony-Soprano-TVs-favourite-mobster-monster-patient.html

R.I.P. To Actor James Gandolfini

Deadline.com is reporting that Soprano star James Gandolfini has died.

The actor was only 51.

I recently watched one of his fine performances in Killing Them Softly.

You can read the report via the below link:

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/r-i-p-james-gandolfini/

You can also read FoxNews.com's report on James Gandolfini's death and watch a video clip via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/06/19/actor-james-gandolfini-sopranos-dies-at-51/

Tony Soprano And Joe Ligambi, Garbage Mobsters

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia is covering the federal mob trial in Philadelphia for www.bigtrial.net

Not for nothing was Tony Soprano a "solid waste management consultant."

The writers of that highly acclaimed cable televison series borrowed from real life when they created "employment" for the ficticious New Jersey crime boss. The mob, they knew, has always had its hooks into the trash business.

Jurors in the ongoing trial of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi are about to get another version of that same story. Prosecutors on Friday began laying the groundwork for one of the last charges remaining in the two-month-old racketeering conspiracy case -- an allegation that Ligambi turned a "no show" job with a South Philadelphia trash hauling company into nearly a quarter million dollars in medical benefits.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2012/12/tony-soprano-and-joe-ligambi-garbage.html