Corrado John Soprano, Jr. (often called "Uncle Junior"), played by Dominic Chianese, is the mentor and part-time father figure for mob boss Tony Soprano in the fictional HBO TV series, The Sopranos. A younger Corrado sometimes appears in flashbacks and is played by Rocco Sisto.
| Junior Soprano | |
|---|---|
| File:JuniorSoprano.jpg | |
| First appearance | The Sopranos (episode 1.01) |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Portrayed by | Dominic Chianese |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Corrado John Soprano, Jr. |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Former Boss of the DiMeo Crime Family |
| Family | Johnny Boy Soprano (brother) Ercoli "Eckley" Soprano (brother) Tony Soprano (nephew) Janice Soprano (niece) Barbara Soprano Giglione (niece) Livia Soprano (sister-in-law) |
| Spouse | Bobbi SanFillipo (ex-girlfriend) Catherine Romano (ex-girlfriend) |
Junior is actually Tony Soprano's uncle: Junior's younger brother was John Francis "Johnny Boy" Soprano, Tony's father. Both Junior and Johnny Boy dropped out of high school to join the DiMeo Crime Family. Junior and Johnny Boy were responsible for acquiring longtime Soprano asset, Satriale's Meat Market from the eponymous Mr. Satriale. He had a gambling problem and eventually committed suicide leaving the place in the Soprano brothers' hands because of his debts. Junior harboured some resentment towards his brother because he was made before him despite being the younger of the two. Junior always watched after Tony, but after Johnny Boy's death from emphysema, Junior became Tony's surrogate father. Junior acted as Tony's leader and mentor, helping him rise through the ranks. However Junior also had some resentment for Tony's fast ascendancy as a star of the family that he had spent his whole life working in.
Following the arrest of DiMeo family boss Eckley DiMeo, Junior got into a trucking dispute with new acting boss Jackie Aprile. He fled to Boca to avoid any repercussions but his nephew, Tony arranged a sit down through Soprano soldier, Big Pussy Bonpensiero to resolve the problem.
Upon the death of Jackie, Tony and Junior squabbled over who would be the boss of the family. Brendan Filone, an associate of Tony's crew, was killed by Junior's right hand man, Mikey Palmice. Junior planned to whack "Little Pussy" Malanga in Vesuvio - the restaurant of Tony's friend, Artie Bucco. Tony tried to prevent this, eventually resorting to fire bombing the restaurant to force it's closure so the hit would go down elsewhere.
Eventually, a compromise was reached. Although Junior technically became the boss, Tony really ran the show using Junior as a front to distract law enforcement with the agreement of the other capos. In addition, poor health coupled with being under house arrest for federal racketeering charges have limited Junior's ability to run anything.
Junior and Tony argued again when Tony made reference to Junior's sexual role in a relationship with a longtime friend prompting Junior to end the association. Tony also upset Junior by placing Livia Soprano is the Green Grove retirement community. Resentful, Tony's own mother, Livia, tried to take advantage of both of their grudges and gave Junior the go ahead to rub out Tony. She prompted the action by revealing Tony's visits to Dr. Melfi - a therapist. However, the hit failed and Tony used the situation to cut Junior out of the loop in the family almost completely by arranging for Junior's top trigger men, Mikey Palmice and Chucky Signore to get whacked. Junior was arrested on federal racketeering charges at the same time as these hits.
This cut Junior's ability to pull another attack and sent his former crew into turmoil. Junior's underboss Beppy Sasso was arrested at the same time as Junior. Junior's replacement capo Philly "Spoons" Parisi couldn't keep his mouth shut about the conflict between Tony and his Uncle and also Livia's involvement so Tony had him whacked. Finally, Tony moved two soldiers from Junior's crew, Patsy Parisi and Gigi Cestone, over to his crew. This left Junior the aging Murf Lupo as capo and Beppy Scerbo and Bobby Baccalieri AKA Bobby Bacala as soldiers.
Tony and Junior seem to have since buried the hatchet. Bacala went on to become Junior's replacement right-hand man and closest confidant. Bobby accompanied Junior on hospital visits during his battles with colon cancer which he eventually overcame. Junior tried to warn Bobby not to get involved with his niece, Janice after the death of Bobby's wife, but Janice persisted and Bobby and Janice eventually got married.
Junior found various ways to get around his house arrest - using his doctor's office to conduct business until the feds placed an agent there posing as a nurse and attending as many funerals and family functions as possible. Although Tony considered him to be arrogant and incompetent as a boss, he has often turned to Junior as the voice of experience now that his uncle is reduced to an observational role. However, although Junior has survived cancer and prison, the mental toll of a series of 'mini-strokes' and the confinement of house arrest has since left him confused, depressed, and increasingly dependent on family care and support.
In Season Six of The Sopranos, Junior's dementia has worsened over the two year interval, as he becomes paranoid that his long-deceased enemy, "Little Pussy" Malanga, is after him. Tony, however, refuses to put his uncle in a nursing home, feeling obligated to care for Junior himself with the aid of his sisters and Bobby. The decision proves nearly fatal. Tony arrives at Junior's house one evening and finds that his uncle is missing his false teeth. Tony sends Junior upstairs to look for the missing teeth while Tony prepares dinner for his uncle. When Junior hears Tony's voice from downstairs telling him that dinner is ready, his dementia kicks in once again. Junior descends the stairs and believing his nephew to be "Little Pussy" Malanga, shoots Tony in the abdomen. Panicking, Junior runs upstairs, hiding away in his bedroom closet while Tony struggles to dial 911 before losing consciousness.
Junior was arrested and taken into Federal custody over the shooting, but his lawyer secured him a release into a mental institution, claiming he is currently unfit to stand trial. Tony is apparently unaware of this, having refused all contact with, or even mention of, his uncle since the shooting. Junior remains confused and distressed by proceedings and denies that he could have deliberately attacked his own nephew. Junior's dementia has progressed to such a state that when his grand-nephew A.J. Soprano visited him with the intention of murdering Junior, Junior did not recognize the danger he was in. It is also unclear whether Junior could distinguish AJ from his father, referring to him as his nephew Anthony.