The Sopranos star Joseph Siravo dies at 64

Joseph Siravo
(Image credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)

Joseph Siravo, the actor who starred as Tony Soprano's father on The Sopranos, has died at 64.

Siravo died following a battle with cancer, his co-star Garry Pastore confirmed on social media, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

"RIP my dear friend, who fought an incredible fight," Pastore wrote on Instagram. "I will miss you. See you on the other side."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In addition to Johnny Soprano on HBO's The Sopranos, Siravo's other roles included Ron Goldman's father Fred Goldman on The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, and he starred in films like Carlito's Way, which served as his screen debut. Outside of film and television, Siravo had a successful theater career starring in shows like Jersey Boys, Oslo, and The Light in the Piazza. He was also "highly regarded" as an acting teacher in New York, Variety writes.

"Joe was an excellent actor and a wonderful guy and he will be missed dearly," The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli wrote on Instagram. "His performance of Johnny Boy Soprano was spot on and he also made a perfect John Gotti in Nick Sandow's The Wannabe. In my opinion he was the best of all the actors who've played the Teflon Don. Farewell Joe. Until the next life my friend."

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Brendan Morrow

Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.