Summary
- The Sopranos is based on the real-life DeCavalcante crime family, which operated in New Jersey and was considered the “Sixth Family” of the Italian mafia on the East Coast.
- Tony Soprano, the main character, was patterned after Vincent “Vinny Ocean” Palmero, the head of the DeCavalcante crime family. They shared similarities in their businesses and relationships with their nephews.
- The illegal activities portrayed in The Sopranos, such as bookmaking, drug trafficking, and murder, were inspired by the real-life activities of the DeCavalcante crime family, including waste management violations and construction zoning violations. Tony Soprano’s family life also mirrors Vincent Palmero’s, with both being protective and dedicated to their families.
Created by David Chase in 1999, The Sopranos marked a dramatic shift in how leading TV characters were depicted onscreen. Instead of a wholesome, morally sound lead, the gritty crime drama focused on the criminal exploits of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a ruthless gangster who lies, cheats, steals, kills, womanizes, and schemes his way to the top of the Italian Mob in New Jersey. Despite Tony’s lack of redeeming qualities in his criminal life, the character remained compelling thanks to the depiction of his home life and the complicated love shown for his wife Carmella (Edie Falco), and children Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and A.J. (Robert Iler).
With the help of his criminal associates, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Paulie “Walnuts” Gaultieri (Tony Sirico), and others, Tony Soprano climbs the ranks of The DiMeo crime family and becomes one of the most powerful and influential organized gangsters on the East Coast. While there’s no questioning Tony’s ability to lead The DiMeo crime family to financial and reputational success, many fans still wonder if The Sopranos (The DiMeos) is based on a real-life crime family. With the show celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, here’s everything to know about the integrity of The Sopranos.
The Sopranos is Based on The DeCavalcante Crime Family
Regarding the most powerful real-life Italian mafia dynasties on the East Coast, five notorious New York crime families are often cited: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. In The Sopranos, Tony Soprano and his crew work for The DiMeo crime family that operates out of New Jersey, leaving many to wonder how much of the acclaimed HBO crime show is rooted in reality and how much has been fabricated for dramatic effect.
While no real DiMeo crime family was working in New Jersey, series creator David Chase took direct inspiration from The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia and the North Jersey Crime Family. The DeCavalcante family operated on the opposite side of the Hudson River to the five New York families and often controlled Newark, Elizabeth, and parts of West New York. After climbing the ranks of the American mafia on the East Coast, the DeCavalcante Family was considered by some as “The Sixth Family.”
Tony Soprano Was Patterned After Vincent Palmero
In addition to modeling The Sopranos after The DeCavalcantes on the landmark HBO series, David Chase patterned Tony Soprano after Vincent “Vinny Ocean” Palmero. Vincent Palmero was the head of the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey and shared a lot in common with Tony Soprano. For example, Palmero owned a strip club called Wiggles. In The Sopranos, Tony owns the Bada Bing strip club and uses the back room as a meeting place for his associates to plan future crimes. Palmero earned the nickname “Vinny Ocean” after working at the Fulton Fish Market in The Bronx as a teenager. Although Tony is quite fond of animals on the show, he did not grow up working in a fish market, nor was he nicknamed “Tony Ocean.”
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Another similarity between Tony Soprano and Vincent Palmero relates to their nephews. In The Sopranos, Tony relies on his nephew, Christopher Moltisanti, to carry out several criminal assignments. Despite his drug problems, Moltisanti climbs the ranks of the Sopranos as the series progresses until the character’s arc ends tragically. In reality, crime boss Sam DeCavalcante took a shine to his nephew-in-law, Vincent Palmero, after Palmero married into the family in the 1960s.
Palmero married Sam DeCavalcante’s niece and became a part of the crime family. Just as Tony Soprano took Chrissy under his wing, DeCavalcante took Palmero under his wing, and David Chase uses these parallels when developing the series. Moreover, the character of Tony’s Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) can also be viewed as being inspired by the relationship between Palmero and DeCavalcante.
Illegal Activities Performed by The Sopranos and The DeCavalcantes
In The Sopranos, Tony fronts his illegal operation by working as a construction contractor and waste management operator in his day job. By operating an above-board business, Tony and his crew were able to successfully organize such illegal rackets as bookmaking, bootlegging, theft, extortion, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, hijacking, loan sharking, money laundering, fencing, fraud, murder, and more.
All of these illicit activities in the gangster TV series were inspired by the real DeCavalcante crime family, right down to waste management violations and cement and construction zoning violations. This blue-collar aspect of The Sopranos helped differentiate the crime family from the more traditional New York Crime families, something that also set The DeCavalcante family apart from the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families.
Tony Soprano’s Family Life Vs. Vincent Palmero’s Family Life
While it’s established that The Sopranos is based on the DeCavalcante crime family, Tony Soprano’s personal life mirrors Vincent Palmero’s family life as well. For instance, Palmero’s father died when he was 16, and he was left to look after his asthmatic mother. In The Sopranos, Tony’s father also dies early in his life, and Tony is also forced to care for his ailing live-in mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand). Although David Chase has claimed Livia is based on his own mother, it’s hard to ignore the parallels between Tony and Vincent’s upbringing.
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By all accounts, Palmero was also extremely protective of his family, especially his children. Palmero notoriously prevented a man on the street from beating his son in public and once saved a toddler from drowning in a swimming pool. A devoted family man as well, Palmero often drove his daughters to Brownie meetings and adopted a troubled teenager as his godson. In The Sopranos, Tony exhibits the exact same qualities as a dedicated and protective family man, which is what makes his three-dimensional character so compelling. Likewise, Palmero was a devout Catholic and a member of Sacred Heart Church. In The Sopranos, Tony’s family are also members of the Catholic Church, whose morality is tested by the local priest, Father Phil Intintola (Paul Schulze). The point is, many aspects of Palmero’s personal family life were taken as inspiration to shade Tony Soprano’s domestic side.
Differences Between Tony Soprano and Vincent Palmero
There are a few major differences between Tony Soprano on the TV show and the real-life Vincent Palmero. In 1999, the same year The Sopranos debuted, Palmero became a government witness and confessed to several crimes he committed to get a reduced sentence. Palmero confessed to murdering Fred Weiss and Louis LaRasso as well as planning the murders of several other gangsters. Following his testimony, Palmero and his family entered the Witness Protection Program.
In The Sopranos, Tony Soprano never turned state’s evidence, nor testified in court against a crime family. Moreover, Tony Soprano and his family never entered the Witness Protection Program. The Sopranos infamously ends with an abrupt cut-to-black inside a New Jersey diner, with many believing Tony was whacked in front of his family. While there are no definitive answers regarding Tony’s fate on the show, he never cooperated with the government as Palmero did in real life.
Another glaring difference between Tony Soprano and Vincent Palmero relates to their marriages. Palmero was married twice, while Tony Soprano was married once on the TV show. After divorcing Sam DeCavalcante’s niece, Palmero married an Italian-American woman named Angela in the 1980s. Palmero continued to pay alimony to his first wife and supported his second family until he was indicted.
However, Palmero put his property in Angela’s name and the tax liens left her $68,000 in debt. These aspects of Palmero’s life were left out of The Sopranos, likely to emphasize Carmella’s internal struggle to remain married to Tony or get a divorce. Despite the alterations made throughout the series, The Sopranos was directly inspired by The DeCavalcante crime family, and Tony Soprano was deliberately based on the New Jersey mobster Vincent Palmero.
