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Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance family life with his role as leader of a criminal organization. These are explored during his therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). The series features Tony's family members, mafia colleagues, and rivals in prominent roles—most notably his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his protégé/distant cousin Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli). The pilot was ordered in 1997, and the show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999. The series ran for six seasons totaling 86 episodes until June 10, 2007. Broadcast syndication followed in the U.S. and internationally. ''The Sopranos'' was produced by HBO, Chase Films, and Brad Grey Television. It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City in Quee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Chase
David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'' which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for such shows as ''The Rockford Files'', ''I'll Fly Away'', and '' Northern Exposure''. He created the original series '' Almost Grown'' which aired for 10 episodes in 1988 and 1989. He has won seven Emmy Awards. Chase's film debut came in 2012 with '' Not Fade Away'', followed by ''The Many Saints of Newark'' (2021), a prequel film to the TV series ''The Sopranos''. Early life and education Chase was born into a working-class Italian American family in Mount Vernon, New York, the only child of Henry and Norma Chase. His paternal grandmother had changed the family name from "DeCesare" to "Chase". His father owned a hardware store. He grew up in a small garden apartment in Clifton, New Jersey, and in North Caldwell, New Jersey. He grew up watching matinée crime films and wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music On The Sopranos
The HBO television drama ''The Sopranos'' received considerable critical attention for effective use of an eclectic array of music. Series creator David Chase personally selected all the show's music, with the producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak—sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt, who portrays Silvio Dante on the show and is also a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. They often selected music after completing an episode's production and editing, but occasionally filmed sequences to match pre-selected pieces of music. Stylistically, the music on the show ranges from mainstream pop ( Britney Spears, The Bangles) to oldies and classic rock artists (The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd), from classic jazz and soul (Ella Fitzgerald, Ben E. King) to hip-hop (Xzibit, Time Zone), often within a single episode. Opening credits In the opening credits for each episode, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) drives from the Lincoln Tunnel t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one Golden Globe Award. His portrayal of Tony Soprano has been described as one of the greatest and most influential performances in television history. Gandolfini's film roles include mob henchman Virgil in ''True Romance'' (1993), Lieutenant Bobby Dougherty in '' Crimson Tide'' (1995), Colonel Winter in ''The Last Castle'' (2001), and Mayor of New York in '' The Taking of Pelham 123'' (2009). Other roles are enforcer and stuntman Bear in ''Get Shorty'' (1995) and impulsive "Wild Thing" Carol in ''Where the Wild Things Are'' (2009). For his performance as Albert in ''Enough Said'' (2013), Gandolfini posthumously received much critical praise and several awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Soprano
Anthony John Soprano is a fictional character and the antihero protagonist in the HBO television drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), portrayed by James Gandolfini. Soprano is a member of the American Mafia, Italian-American Mafia and, especially later in the series, acts as the crime boss, boss of his North Jersey crime family. Usually referred to as Tony, the Italian Americans, Italian-American character was conceived by ''The Sopranos'' creator and showrunner David Chase, who was also largely responsible for the character's story arc throughout the show's six seasons. Gandolfini was ultimately cast in the role ahead of several other actors including Steven Van Zandt and Michael Rispoli. The character is loosely based on real-life New Jersey mobsters Richard Boiardo, Ruggerio "Richie the Boot" Boiardo, boss of the North Jersey Genovese crime family, and Vincent Palermo, Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo, a former ''caporegime'' (''capo'') and "''de facto"'' boss of the DeC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Sirico
Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (; July 29, 1942 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in ''The Sopranos''. He also made numerous appearances in the films of Woody Allen. Early life Sirico was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on July 29, 1942, to a family of Italian descent. He grew up in the East Flatbush and Bensonhurst neighborhoods of Brooklyn, and attended Midwood High School, but did not graduate. Sirico's brother, Robert Sirico, is a Catholic priest and co-founder of the free-market Acton Institute. Sirico was convicted of several crimes and was arrested 28 times, including for disorderly conduct, assault, and robbery, before taking up acting. On February 27, 1970, he was arrested at a restaurant, and found with a .32 caliber revolver on his person. In 1971, he was indicted for extortion, coercion, and felony weapons possession, convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison, of which he served 20 months at S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He gained recognition in the early part of his career for his role as Spider in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He has had supporting roles in films such as '' Jungle Fever'' (1991), '' Bad Boys'' (1995), '' The Basketball Diaries'' (1995), ''Shark Tale'' (2004) and ''The Lovely Bones'' (2009), as well as in the HBO drama series ''The White Lotus'' (2022-present). Imperioli is a successful screenwriter, co-writing the screenplay for ''Summer of Sam'' (1999) with Spike Lee, writing five episodes of ''The Sopranos'', and writing as well as directing the feature film ''The Hungry Ghosts'' (2008). Early life Imperioli was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the son of Dan Imperi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared in several television drama series, including as Silvio Dante in ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007) and as Frank Tagliano in ''Lilyhammer'' (2012–2014). Van Zandt has his own solo band called Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, intermittently active since the 1980s. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band. Van Zandt has produced music, written songs, and had his own songs covered by Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf, Nancy Sinatra, Pearl Jam, Artists United Against Apartheid, and the Iron City Houserockers, among others. Early life Van Zandt was born Steven Lento on November 22, 1950 to Mary Henrietta (née Lento) Van Zandt and Vince Borello, in Winthrop, Massachusetts. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Winter
Terence Patrick Winter (born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–14). Before creating ''Boardwalk Empire'', Winter was a writer and executive producer for the HBO television series ''The Sopranos'', from the show's second to sixth and final season (2000–2007). In 2013, he wrote the screenplay to Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was also the co-creator, writer and executive producer of another HBO television drama series, ''Vinyl'' (2016), which ran for one season. He is the co-showrunner on the Paramount+ crime series ''Tulsa King'' with Taylor Sheridan. Early life and education Winter was born in New York City. He grew up in a working-class family in Marine Park, Brooklyn. He studied at the New York University, where he received a bache ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woke Up This Morning
"Woke Up This Morning" is a song by British band Alabama 3 from their 1997 album ''Exile on Coldharbour Lane.'' The song is best known as the opening theme music for the American television series ''The Sopranos'', which used a shortened version of the "Chosen One Mix" of the song. Background and writing Described as "a propulsive hip-hop song complete with Howlin' Wolf samples and a swelling gospel choir", the song has been cited as a paradigmatic example of a "great theme song", which "generates anticipation, immediately puts the viewer in a focused frame of mind, and creates the kind of sonic familiarity that breeds audience loyalty." Alabama 3 frontman Rob Spragg wrote the song after hearing about the 1996 Sara Thornton murder case, who stabbed her husband after claiming to be the victim two years of his abuse, mistreatment and neglect. The song is co-written with Piers Marsh, Simon Edwards, and Jake Black. "We started with a Howlin' Wolf loop, but a lot of blues lyrics are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Hoffman Weiner () (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. Weiner began his television career as a writer on ''Becker'' and worked on several other sitcoms before writing the pilot episode of ''Mad Men'' as a spec script and joining the writing staff of ''The Sopranos'' in 2004. After achieving success on both ''The Sopranos'' and ''Mad Men'', he wrote, directed, and produced the comedy-drama film ''Are You Here'' in 2013, published his first novel ''Heather, the Totality'' in 2017, and created the anthology drama series ''The Romanoffs'' in 2018. Weiner has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards, two for ''The Sopranos'' and seven for ''Mad Men'', as well as three Golden Globe Awards for ''Mad Men''. ''Mad Men'' won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years (2008, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brad Grey
Brad Alan Grey (December 29, 1957 – May 14, 2017) was an American television and film producer. He co-founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (now Brillstein Entertainment Partners), and afterwards became the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a position he held from 2005 until 2017. Grey graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Management. Under Grey's leadership, Paramount finished No. 1 in global market share in 2011 and No. 2 domestically in 2008, 2009, and 2010, despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors. He also produced eight out of Paramount's 10 top-grossing pictures of all time after having succeeded Sherry Lansing in 2005. Early life Grey was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, the youngest child of a garment district salesman. He majored in business and communications at the University at Buffalo. While attending the university, he became a gofer for a young Harvey Weinstein, who was then a concert promot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edie Falco
Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Carmela Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), and Nurse Jackie Peyton on the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015). She also portrayed Diane Whittlesey in HBO's prison drama '' Oz'' (1997–2000). In 2016, she played Sylvia Wittel on the web series ''Horace and Pete''. In 2017, she portrayed defense attorney Leslie Abramson in the first season of the true crime anthology series ''Law & Order True Crime.'' Falco's film work includes lead roles in '' Laws of Gravity'' (1992), for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and ''Judy Berlin'' (1999), and supporting roles in films including '' Sunshine State'' (2002), '' Freedomland'' (2006), '' The Comedian'' (2016), and '' Avatar: The Way of Water'' (2022). For her role in the 2011 Broadway revival of ''The House of Blue Leaves'', she earned a nomination for a Tony Award for B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
