The Sopranos - Watching Too Much Television - 11:15 am Wednesday, December 17 on Sky Atlantic HD

James Gandolfini (Actor) .. Tony Soprano

Born: September 18, 1961 in New Jersey

Best Known For: Playing Tony Soprano.

Early-life: James Joseph Gandolfini Jr was born in Westwood, New Jersey, on September 18, 1961. His family are of Italian descent - his parents spoke their native language at home and his grandparents couldn't speak English. He attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, before moving to New York, where he managed nightclubs and worked as a landscape gardener. He first became hooked on acting when a friend invited him to attend a drama class, and went on to study for two years at the Gately Poole Conservatory.

Career: Gandolfini's early film outings included roles in True Romance (1993), Get Shorty (1995) and She's So Lovely (1997), but his breakthrough came on the small screen in 1999 when he began playing gangster boss Tony in HBO's acclaimed TV series The Sopranos. He won three Emmys, two Screen Actors Guild awards, and a Golden Globe for the role. High-profile movie offers followed and he went on to star in The Mexican (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), The Last Castle (2001), In the Loop (2009), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Enough Said (2013) and The Drop (2014). He died on June 19, 2013, during a holiday in Italy.

Quote: "I'm a neurotic mess. I'm really basically just like a 260-pound Woody Allen."

Trivia: In December 2013, a borough in New Jersey renamed its main thoroughfare James Gandolfini Way.

Edie Falco (Actor) .. Carmela Soprano

Born: July 06, 1963 in New York

Best Known For: Playing the title character in Nurse Jackie.

Early-life: Born Edith Falco in New York on July 5, 1963. Her dad was a graphic artist who drummed part-time with a jazz group and her mother was involved with local amateur theatre groups. Edie discovered her own passion for acting at an early age, appearing in several of her mum's productions. At the age of 18, she won a scholarship to study drama at the prestigious New York State University's Purchase College. Although one professor told her she would never make it because of the way she pronounced the letter S, she decided to become a professional actress.

Career: After graduation, Falco initially struggled to find roles and worked as a waitress to make ends meet. She made her movie debut in the 1987 film Sweet Lorraine and followed it up with parts in Bullets Over Broadway, The Addiction and Cop Land. In 1997, she was cast as a prison officer in the US drama series Oz, and two years later was offered the part of Carmela in The Sopranos. Her performance won her many awards, including two Golden Globes and three Emmys. Since finding fame in the Mafia drama, she has also won praise for her work in the films Sunshine State and Judy Berlin and on stage in the play The Side Man. More recently, she's gained further acclaim, and an Emmy, for her role in Nurse Jackie. She started a 16-week run on Broadway in April 2011 in The House of Blue Leaves alongside Ben Stiller and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Quote: "If I am a star today and someone they don't recognise tomorrow, that's fine by me. It's all meaningless anyway."

Trivia: In 2013, she supported Peta's campaign to urge parents to keep their children away from circuses.

Lorraine Bracco (Actor) .. Dr Jennifer Melfi

Born: October 02, 1954 in New York

Best Known For: Being Tony's psychiatrist in The Sopranos.

Early-life: Born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 2, 1954. Her mother was British and her father was an Italian-American fish merchant, and she has an older brother, Sal, and a younger sister, Elizabeth. At school, Bracco was voted the ugliest girl in her year, but at the age of 19 moved to Paris, where she became a very successful model, working in particular for Jean-Paul Gaultier. She also worked as a TV producer and was a DJ on Radio Luxembourg.

Career: Made her movie debut in the 1979 French film Duos Sur Canape, but her big break came in 1987 in Ridley Scott's thriller, Someone to Watch Over Me. In 1990, she received an Oscar nomination for her role as Karen Hill in GoodFellas. Subsequent films included Medicine Man and The Basketball Diaries, but her career appeared to be in decline until The Sopranos. Producer David Chase approached her to play the mob boss's wife Carmella, but she asked to be cast as psychiatrist Dr Melfi. She currently plays Angela Rizzoli in Rizzoli & Isles.

Quote: On her distinctive New York accent: "I am what I am and I haven't tried to change that. I didn't want to go to speech class and sound like Kathleen Turner."

Trivia: She received three Golden Globe nominations for The Sopranos.

Michael Imperioli (Actor) .. Christopher Moltisanti

Born: March 26, 1966 in New York

Best Known For: Playing Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos.

Early-life: James Michael Imperioli was born in New York, on March 26, 1966. His film work began in the late 1980s. An early part that brought him recognition was in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990), as Spider, a local kid who works for the gangsters and has a run-in with a psychopathic mob soldier played by Joe Pesci. He worked throughout the 1990s in the New York independent film industry, becoming a regular in Spike Lee's movies.

Career: In 1999 Imperioli was cast in The Sopranos as Christopher Moltisanti, a low-ranking soldier in a crime organisation whose family connections to street boss Tony Soprano moved him up the ladder. Imperioli's multi-layered portrayal of such an unappealing character was a real highlight of the series and earned him an Emmy and a SAG award. Imperioli has long been active in the New York theatre scene as well, having written, directed, produced and starred in numerous plays. He recent work has included the US version of Life on Mars, The Lovely Bones, Mercy, and Stuck Between Stations. He features in the ensemble cast of American crime drama Detroit 1-8-7, which started broadcasting in the States in 2010.

Quote: "I do smoke in real life. A lot. We're all smoking right now in fact."

Trivia: He is married to Victoria Chlebowski and they have two children together: Vadim and David and a stepdaughter Isabella.

Steven Van Zandt (Actor) .. Silvio Dante

Born: November 22, 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts

Tony Sirico (Actor) .. Paulie `Walnuts" Gualtieri

Robert Iler (Actor) .. Anthony `AJ" Soprano Jr

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Actor) .. Meadow Soprano

Drea de Matteo (Actor) .. Adriana La Cerva

Born: January 19, 1972 in New York

Best Known For: The Sopranos.

Early-life: Born Andrea Donna de Matteo on January 19, 1972, in Queens, New York, the daughter of a playwright and a furniture manufacturer. She has two older brothers and was raised in Aretha Franklin's old apartment. She decided she wanted to be an actress after watching a Broadway production of Cats, during which she was invited to dance on stage with Rum Tum Tugger. She claims to have had a miserable if affluent childhood, and has admitted to being rebellious.

Career: Following a stint at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, de Matteo made her TV debut in a 1996 episode of Swift Justice, the same year she made her first film, 'M' Word. A role in Meet Prince Charming followed before The Sopranos made her a major star in 1999. Her performance as Adriana La Cerva won her an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress (Drama). She starred in Friends spin-off Joey, and featured in the movies Swordfish, The Perfect You, Deuces Wild, Beacon Hill, and the remake of Assault on Precinct 13. She joined the cast of Desperate Housewives for one season in 2009.

Quote: "I won't tell you I'm a great actress, but I'll tell you one thing: I'm a good bedazzler."

Trivia: She speaks fluent Italian and Spanish.

Aida Turturro (Actor) .. Janice Soprano

Steve Schirripa (Actor) .. Bobby `Bacala" Baccalieri

Vincent Curatola (Actor) .. Johnny `Sack" Sacramoni

Federico Castelluccio (Actor) .. Furio Giunta

Sharon Angela (Actor) .. Rosalie Aprile

Carl Capotorto (Actor) .. Little Paulie Germani

Max Casella (Actor) .. Benny Fazio

Matthew Del Negro (Actor) .. Brian Cammarata

Robert Funaro (Actor) .. Eugene Pontecorvo

Joseph R Gannascoli (Actor) .. Vito Spatafore Jr

Lola Glaudini (Actor) .. FBI Agent Deborah Ciccerone

Dan Grimaldi (Actor) .. Patsy Parisi

Oksana Lada (Actor) .. Irina Peltsin

Richard Maldone (Actor) .. Albert Barese

Joe Pantoliano (Actor) .. Ralph Cifaretto

Frank Pellegrino (Actor) .. Bureau Chief Frank Cubitoso

Peter Riegert (Actor) .. Ronald Zellman

Frank Santorelli (Actor) .. Georgie

Matt Servitto (Actor) .. Agent Dwight Harris

Maureen Van Zandt (Actor) .. Gabriella Dante

Anna Mancini (Actor) .. Donna Parisi

John Patterson (Director)

Terence Winter (Writer)

Nick Santora (Writer)

The Sopranos: Watching Too Much Television

11:15 am - 12:20 pm, Today on Sky Atlantic HD (357)

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Watching Too Much Television
Season 4, Episode 7

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