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Giovanni Francis "Johnny Boy" Soprano was a high profile Capo of the DiMeo crime family. He was the father of Tony Soprano, who would later become boss of the family.

Biography[]

Johnny was married to Livia Pollio and they had three children: Janice, Tony and Barbara. Johnny worked closely with his older brother Junior during the 60s and 70s, and they both went on to become high ranking members in the DiMeo crime family, with Johnny becoming one of the top capos. Johnny was well liked by his crew until his death in late 1986. Johnny took Tony under his wing and brought him up in the family as a part of his crew.

Johnny made many trips with Paulie Gualtieri to Florida, where he had a stake in a dog track. During Paulie's first trip there with Johnny, they were passing through Georgia in a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz and were pulled over by a Georgia State Patrol trooper. Paulie, who was in his 20s at the time and had never been outside of New Jersey, was driving without a license and was worried about what to tell the trooper. Johnny told Paulie to tell the state trooper that his cousin was a state trooper and gave Paulie a southern sounding name. When the trooper asked for the cousin's name, Paulie said "Barney Fife." The trooper then hit Paulie in the face, while Johnny laughed uncontrollably and resolved the issue by giving the trooper a one-hundred-dollar bill.

Paulie also told Tony that his father loved him very much and that the only time he saw Johnny cry was when Tony was born. Tony told Paulie that he "never knew where he stood" with his father, but Paulie tells Tony that Johnny trusted him enough to let him make his bones by killing a bookie named Willie Overall when Tony was only 22 years old, on Labor Day of 1982.

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Johnny Boy & Junior Soprano making an example of an "unpaid debt".

During the show, Johnny was only seen in flashbacks to Tony's childhood or in Tony's dream sequences, but further details of his history are fleshed out (and seemingly retconned) in The Many Saints of Newark.

Tony once witnessed Johnny cut the pinky finger off of Mr. Satriale with a cleaver, while Junior held him in place, in the Fall of 1970; Satriale was a gambler who was avoiding giving Johnny payment. This event contributed to Tony's first panic attack at the kitchen table that evening. Tony also recalled his father discussing a possible move to Reno, Nevada in the summer of 1967 to manage a supper club for Rocco Alatore. Livia refused to move, however, and she would sweep this incident under rug when Alatore later became a millionaire with his investments.

Tony also witnessed Johnny Boy plotting a scheme in 1967 at a children's carnival by bringing Janice along. Tony had originally thought that his father favored Janice over him, but later learned the truth, that mobsters brought their daughters to their meetings as a foil. Johnny quickly made bail later that night, and came home to greet his wife and children. He was also cheered on by his neighbors for this, even Rocco Alatore, whom he beat up not too long ago.

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Johnny Boy & Junior arrested for plotting a scheme at a children's carnival.

It is revealed in "A Hit Is a Hit" that Johnny Boy was a silent partner in Herman "Hesh" Rabkin's record label, F-Note Records, which brought young black musicians to fame. Johnny Boy ensured that their records got airplay, despite him being vocally racist, despising the fact that Black people had moved onto his block during his incarceration. Hesh Rabkin was a trusted confidant and advisor to Johnny Boy, although was technically not a member of his crew, due to his being Jewish.

When Janice recalled the time Johnny shot through Livia's beehive hairdo while they were driving home, Tony thought that the anecdote was shameful and made their family look "dysfunctional". Tony described his mother's relationship with his father as wearing him down to "a little nub." Despite this, however, it is revealed that Johnny was frequently abusive to his wife and his children, both physically and verbally, including several threats to beat or smack Tony.

Johnny Boy also kept a mistress named Fran Felstein, whom he had met during Tony's childhood. Around the time of Janice's confirmation, Johnny sported a moustache. His comare (possibly Fran) told him it made him look like Robert Goulet, but he vowed to shave it off when his daughter fulfilled her religious duties by being confirmed. In 1975, when Tony was 16, Johnny stayed all night at her home when his wife was pregnant and in the hospital. The next morning Johnny and Tony went to the hospital and Tony lied to his mother saying they went to a New York Yankees baseball game and stayed in New York. Livia saw through Johnny's lie and lost the baby due to bleeding.

Many Saints of Newark[]

The Many Saints of Newark shows us a different part of Johnny. He is first seen at Janice’s confirmation party with a mustache. Like in the original series, Johnny was arrested at Rideland. He was picked up at the carnival while at an illegal card game and arrested on an outstanding warrant for assault with a deadly weapon at The Lobster Trap Restaurant. As he was being taken away, instead of his associate telling the cops to go after the black people for the Newark Riots, Johnny says it instead. Janice is also left behind, and she is taken home with tony by a cop. Johnny failed to make bail and was subsequently sentenced to four years in Rahway Prison. Shortly after his arrest, the Sposato brothers made a grab for his putrescible waste routes.

When released, Johnny is immediately in a bad mood. He berates Junior for letting black people move into their neighborhood. At his welcome home party, he is ungrateful for everything and would rather bang his goomar, He publicly humiliates Livia and he forces Janice to go upstairs and change, being not pleased by her choice of clothing, despite there not being anything wrong with it. During a drive with Livia, Dickie, and his wife Joanne, Livia kept going on about Tony’s recent problems, and Johnny, feeling annoyed, pulled out his gun and shot through her hair.

Johnny was present when Harold McBrayer shot at Dickie Moltisanti from a moving car in retaliation for the murder of Cousin Cyril and was forced to duck for cover when Buddha was killed. When Dickie shot Harold's driver, Johnny Boy let off a couple of shots, but again ran to cover when Harold began to fire back. He did however succeed in downing one of Harold's men when he shot Frankie the Guitarist in the back for trying to flee. At Buddha’s funeral, Johnny joined with other family members in greeting family boss Ercole "Eckley/Boot” DiMeo shortly after yet another fight with his wife Livia, which resulted in her not speaking to him. He later called an ambulance for Junior when he slipped on the steps of the funeral home and injured his back. While walking his dog home during the Christmas season, Johnny was shocked and upset when he saw Tony throwing the high quality speakers that Dickie gave to him out the window.

In a deleted scene, Johnny is eating his ice cream while in his bathrobe much early in the morning, and gets irritated when he hears Livia terrified during a dream. He goes upstairs, pulls Tony away from the bed and roughly shakes Livia awake. Tony asks johnny to take it easy with livia. She goes on about her dream where her teeth fell out. Janice says that the teeth could mean she talked bad to someone, and Johnny tells her it's because of a fight she had with her neighbor over their dog. As Tony walks out of the room, Johnny pushes him against the wall, and tells him not to tell him to take it easy as he has no idea how hard it is to take care of Livia, as he will need to do it someday.

In another deleted scene, Johnny visits Dickie at his vending machine company with Tony to buy a free jukebox much to Dickie's annoyance. Johnny acts rude towards Tony and treats him like a child. Tony vents his frustration to Dickie and says he could just kill him. Dickie gets angered by this, and hits Tony, causing a scuffle between them. Johnny gets angry at this, and hits Tony for causing trouble with Dickie.

Relationships[]

Livia Soprano[]

Tony described his mother's relationship with his father as wearing him down to "a little nub." Despite this, however, it is revealed that Johnny was frequently abusive to his wife. He almost let her die during her miscarriage, he humiliated her in front of others during his welcome home party, and he shot through her hair just because he was annoyed by her.

Junior Soprano[]

Johnny's relationship with his older brother was generally mixed. At times he berated him for his shortcomings, comparing him to younger cohorts like "Gentleman Dick" Moltisanti and blaming him for situations he had zero control over. At other times, they were inseparable and would often accompany each other on debt collections and enforcement work.

Tony Soprano[]

Although Tony made it seem like he was close with his father, in reality Johnny was abusive towards Tony, his favorite method of abuse being a belt. He was shown to hit Tony if he was angry, and he also was something of an absent figure in Tony’s life, putting his business before not just Tony, but his family too. However, Johnny did seem to love Tony, as Paulie tells Tony how he cried when he was born.

Janice Soprano[]

His relationship with Janice was also generally mixed. Such as using her as a cover during his mob meetings at the amusement park. He also was very controlling towards her, such as forcing her to change her clothes once he came home from prison.

Barbara Soprano[]

Johnny seemed to have a soft spot for his daughter Barbara, judging by the loving way he greeted her when he came back from prison.

Paulie Gualtieri[]

Johnny seemed to have a good relationship with Paulie. They often went down to Florida together, and he shared his deepest feelings to Paulie, something he likewise wouldn’t show around his other men, like when he cried in front of Paulie around the time Tony was born.

Dickie Moltisanti[]

The Revelation about Johnny Boy[]

Through the various dream sequences and his therapy sessions, it appears Tony's relationship with his father was never as close as he presumed - an issue that Dr. Melfi attempted to engage, but which was met with dismissal by Tony, who refused to delve deeply into his relationship with his father. What is clear is that Johnny Soprano exhibited many traits of a shameless narcissist who placed his own carnal needs above those of his family and used his own children as pawns in his criminal activities, a trait that Tony would somewhat copy by indulging in his own carnal appetites with women, but not involving Meadow or Anthony Jr. in his criminal activities. Despite these revelations, Tony continues to idolize his father, and demonize his mother.

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

Season 1[]

Season 3[]

Season 5[]

Season 6[]

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