Junior: "He knows I need that money for my fucking retrial!"
Tony: "Who?"
Junior: "You know who."
Tony: "No, I don't know who, that's why I asked you."
Junior: "Malanga!"
—Junior Soprano and Tony Soprano[src]
Gennaro "Little Pussy" Malanga is a minor character on The Sopranos. He is an associate in the DiMeo crime family and the bitter enemy of Junior Soprano.
Biography[]
Background[]
| “ | Vesuvio is where Pussy feels safe; he's been eating here all his life!
|
„ |
| ― Beppy Scerbo |
Gennaro Malanga was born to an Italian-American family in New Jersey and at some point by the 1970s, he was eventually became an associate of Junior Soprano's Crew in the DiMeo crime family.[2] His nickname "Little Pussy" caused confusion for its similarity with that of family soldier, Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. He frequented the Vesuvio restaurant in Elizabeth throughout his entire life and it was the place where he felt the most secure.[3] Malanga and captain Junior Soprano were involved in the large-scale robbery of a Bohack grocery store, where Junior was supposed to come into $40,000; however, Pussy possibly cheated him out of that promised money, leading to a lasting resentment from Junior and a 20-year-long rivalry between the two men.[4] By 1998, Pussy was partially handicapped and required the use of a wheelchair.[3]
Season 1[]
| “ | It's none of my business, but uh, down at the club, word is your uncle Junior is gonna whack Pussy Malanga; he's gonna do it at your friend Artie Bucco's restaurant.
|
„ |
| ― Silvio Dante to Tony Soprano |
Pussy being arrested after returning home from Florida.
In June 1998, Junior decides to put an end to his longstanding rivalry with Pussy and plans to kill him after he gets back from his stay in Florida; Silvio informs Tony of this but it doesn't concern him until after Silvio reveals the hit will be taking place at Vesuvio, Artie's restaurant, which will most certainly ruin his business. Hoping to save his friend from a problem Artie is not even aware of, Tony confronts Junior and his men outside the restaurant and orders him to kill Pussy somewhere else. Junior's friend Beppy counters that Pussy will be caught off guard at Vesuvio since it is his hangout spot, and Tony's uncle is indignant that his nephew would tell him what to do, so he rebuffs Tony and clarifies that he will carry out matters as he sees fit. When Tony brings up the situation to Hesh, he suggests Tony give Artie some tickets for a cruise to the Caribbean so Vesuvio will close down and the killing be carried out at some other place. Though Artie initially gratefully accepts the tickets, Charmaine discourages him from doing so as they were probably obtained illegally, and he returns them to Tony. Soon afterwards, Christopher calls Tony to warn him that Pussy appeared on the news returning from Florida, and that despite having been arrested shortly after his arrival, will most likely be out on the street for Junior to dispatch him; however, Tony states that he's got a plan to settle the issue, and while seeing their daughters' football game, he asks Silvio to "put a party together" to take care of their problem. Silvio later enters Vesuvio late at night, and after calmly walking out of the restaurant, it explodes in a huge, fiery blaze, thus preventing Junior from carrying through with his plan. Tony's interference in the hit on Pussy causes further friction with his uncle, as Junior later complains to Livia, "I'm not free to run my business like I want" and mentions that "something may have to be done about Tony", the first hint of his eventual plot to scheme with her against his nephew.[3]
Season 5[]
Janice: "Where's your car?"
Junior: "They stole it."
Janice: "Who stole it?"
Junior: "You know who."
—Janice Soprano and Junior Soprano discussing the theft of Junior's car[src]
When Junior begins to suffer from senile dementia, he wanders outside his house in his slippers and pajamas looking for his deceased younger brother Johnny; in the process, he gets his car stolen in Bloomfield Avenue and walks aimlessly through Newark, eventually being rescued by two policemen who escort him into their car and take him back home where Janice is waiting for him. Upon asking him about his car, Junior answers that "they stole it"; when Janice questions who did, Junior replies "You know who". Considering his fragile mental state and his later belief that Little Pussy was haunting him, Junior may have believed Pussy was responsible for taking his car.[5]
Season 6[]
After Junior slips further and further into mental disability, he convinces Tony to dig for his buried money from the Bohack score in the 1970s, which he apparently hid in his backyard. Unsuccessful in finding anything, Tony tells Junior he probably didn't bury it there, but he remains in his own state of mind, rambling that "he" knows Junior needed the money for his retrial. Tony frustratingly asks who he's referring to, to which Junior responds that Little Pussy is conspiring against him. His nephew, irritated, tells him that Pussy's been dead for six years, and asks him to stop being so paranoid. Some days later, after Bobby and Janice are unavailable to look after Junior, Tony is forced to care for him at his house late one night. While making him spaghetti for dinner, Tony tells Junior, who is in his upstairs bedroom, to come down in 10 minutes once he's done cooking, but his uncle simply tells him not to "go anywhere" and is heard scrambling to find something. Going back to the kitchen, Tony asks Junior if he has any wine, but after walking down the stairs, Junior cries out, "Cazzata, Malanga!" and shoots Tony in the stomach with his old pistol. As his nephew collapses and struggles on the floor, Junior goes back up the stairs, slides the gun under his bed and hides in his closet. Bleeding heavily, Tony gathers the strength to crawl towards a telephone and dial 9-1-1 before passing out.[4]
Personality[]
Not much is known about Little Pussy's personality or the true concrete motive for the undying rivalry between him and Junior, but given the likelihood of him scamming Junior out of $40,000 from their robbery of the Bohack store in the 1970s, it is probable that he was a greedy and opportunistic mobster who only looked out for himself.[4] Despite being paralyzed by 1998, Little Pussy still seemed to be somewhat active in mob affairs, given that he was arrested after returning home from Florida on an unknown charge and that, despite his physical condition, Junior still found it fit to kill him.[3] Pussy may have been an intimidating and dangerous mafioso, since even after his death, Junior was still afraid of him in his demented state, and went so far as to shoot his nephew after mistaking him for Pussy.[4]
Relationships[]
DiMeo crime family[]
Junior Soprano[]
Prior to the 1970s, Pussy and Junior may have gotten along well and possibly even profited from each other's businesses, since they participated in a Bohack robbery together.[4] However, after Pussy ran off with Junior's money, their relationship was plunged into a ruthless rivalry that lasted for more than 20 years, until Junior finally decided to kill him in 1998.[3]
Tony Soprano[]
Tony did not seem to care much about Little Pussy, as when Silvio reported that Junior wanted Pussy killed, Tony's only concern was that the hit would go down in Vesuvio and was otherwise willing to let Junior take him out.[3]
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 6 |
Trivia[]
- While Tony states Pussy died six years ago in "Members Only", his exact cause of death is not known;[4] given his physical condition at the time of the start of the series, it is possible he died as a result of his disablity. However, it could also be the case that Junior ultimately had him killed at some place other than Vesuvio, and that he did get his revenge.[3]
Gallery[]
Season 1The Sopranos.png "TV news report Gennaro Malanga The Sopranos (Pilot).png (3.38 MB)") .png "TV news report Gennaro Malanga Getting Detained The Sopranos (Pilot).png (4.18 MB)") .png "TV News Report Gennaro Malanga Led Out of Airport The Sopranos (Pilot).png (2.65 MB)") |
References[]
- ↑ In "Members Only", Tony tells Junior, "Pussy Malanga's dead, six years now." The episode takes place in April 2006, so Pussy must have died in 2000.
- ↑ In "Members Only", Junior states about his buried money, "40,000, I had, my share of the Bohack's haul from the '70s!" and later goes on, "He [Pussy] knows I need that money for my fucking retrial!" If Pussy was involved in the Bohack robbery during the 1970s, he must have been born before then.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "The Sopranos"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Members Only"
- ↑ "Where's Johnny?"