Lorenzo "Larry Boy" Barese is a recurring character portrayed by Tony Darrow. Barese is a member of the DiMeo/Soprano crime family, and is Capo of the Barese crew.
Biography[]
Barese is a Capo in the DiMeo crime family.In the episode "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" his first name is given as "Lawrence", but in the episodes "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" and "Stage 5" he is called "Lorenzo", which is likely his true given name. Larry is arguably the most affable and laid-back member of the DiMeo/Soprano family. Fellow capo Richie Aprile called him "The King of Dermabrasion". He is typically polite and relatively soft-spoken and is never seen to harm anyone physically or lose his temper. He also has a sense of humor and isn't above telling jokes around his fellow mobsters. Like Soprano soldier Patsy Parisi, he also hasn't been shown committing murder.
The capo of the Barese crew, cousin of Soprano mobster Albert "Ally Boy" Barese, and the godfather of associate (later soldier) Benny Fazio, Barese managed to become an influential member of the DiMeo crime family during the 1990s. Following the death of acting boss Jackie Aprile, Sr. in 1998, Larry nominated Tony Soprano as a possible candidate for boss of the family, and later rejected Tony's wish that Tony's uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano become the new boss instead. However, Larry supported Tony's plan to use Junior as the official boss and agreed to follow Tony's orders as he was running the family behind Junior's back.
In the season 1 episode "Pax Soprana", Larry, along with DiMeo capos Jimmy Altieri and Raymond Curto they had a sit down with Tony after Junior had soldier Mikey Palmice murder Larry's top earner Rusty Irish by throwing him off of the Great Falls of Paterson' bridge, after Rusty sold some ecstasy to one of Junior's friend's grandson and the boy committed suicide by jumping off Paterson Falls during a bad trip. Larry and the other capos reported this as a sign of Junior abusing his power as boss. Barese declared "that junky fuck was my biggest earner." Barese later moved his mother to the Green Grove retirement community (where Tony kept his own mother Livia) so that he could conduct clandestine meetings with Tony Soprano, Jimmy Altieri and even New York Lupertazzi crime family underboss John 'Johnny Sack' Sacramoni.
Later during his daughter's wedding, Larry played a major role in reporting to the other mob crews and associates of the mob Indictments of 1999. Soon after, along with Junior and underboss Joseph "Beppy" Sasso (Mikey Palmice was also to be arrested, but was murdered beforehand), he was arrested and charged with violations of racketeering and fraud. Larry could often be seen as a second defendant in the courtroom during Junior's major RICO trial. During the trial and the time he was incarcerated, Larry promoted his cousin Albert Barese to acting capo of his crew.
Three years after the indictments, Larry was released following a mistrial and put under house arrest. However, he took control of his crew back from his cousin Ally Boy. At this point, Larry remained the only one of the original five DiMeo family captains in control of his crew (Tony was promoted to boss, Junior was removed from power by the family, Raymond Curto died of a stroke and Jimmy Altieri was executed under suspicion of being an informant). He also showed he respected former capo Feech La Manna, as he criticized Tony’s decision to send him back to prison.
Larry was also a regular fixture at Tony's ICU waiting room following his shooting in 2006. Recently promoted capo and the family's biggest earner at the time, Vito Spatafore, approached Larry to suggest himself as a candidate to take over as boss if Tony should not recover from his coma after his uncle had shot him. Although Tony recovered, Larry stayed loyal to him and Tony's nephew Christopher Moltisanti, with whom he began producing the upcoming fictional slasher film Cleaver. At this time, Larry had routinely broken the terms of his bail since his release in order to run business and socialize, including giving a toast at Christopher's belated bachelor party. In 2007, Larry was finally arrested at the premiere after-party for Cleaver by federal marshals for violating house arrest. He was in jail awaiting a retrial at the end of the series, and isn't seen after the episode, "Stage 5".
He is mentioned in the season 6 episode "Remember When", when the FBI begins digging up a body from a murder that occurred 25 years ago (Tony's first murder, which Paulie Gualtieri also played a part in). There is a minor discussion about Larry which indicates that he gave the FBI the location of the body. However, in order to save Tony and Paulie, after the body is recovered, he goes on to tell the FBI (falsely) that the murder was committed solely by the late Jackie Aprile.
Gallery[]
Appearance[]
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Behind the scenes[]
In 2011, Darrow aka Anthony Borgese, the actor who portrays Larry Barese admitted that he was an associate of the Gambino crime family after being convicted of beating an extortion victim.
Darrow pleaded guilty in federal court to these charges in February, 2011 in exchange for a sentence of up to 33 months.
At sentencing, Darrow's attorney successfully argued that Darrow's 50+ year history of community service, medical condition, and lack of prior criminal history warranted a sentence of house arrest, followed by a period of probation. Darrow successfully completed both aspects of his sentence without issue. (from Wikipedia)