I was never a subscriber to HBO, so I didn’t watch The Sopranos during its original run that ended in 2007. I knew about the show and caught some highly-edited episodes on a cable a few times. I may have rented a season or two on DVD when that was still a thing, but it wasn’t until The Sopranos began streaming on Prime that I was able to watch it all the way through, each of the 86 episodes, beginning with Tony Soprano’s visit to the psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi that opened the series.
The Sopranos ran for six seasons on HBO, spread out over eight years, from 1999 to 2007. The show was centered around Tony, and his families. His family at home and his work family. Tony is the boss, the capo, of a New Jersey organized crime organization.
Tony was played brilliantly by James Gandolfini, whose life is chronicled in the new book Gandolfini: Jim, Tony and the Life of a Legend, by author Jason Bailey.
Gandolfini, who was born and raised in New Jersey, is “likely the real person second-most associated with the Garden State,” Bailey writes in the opening chapter, behind only Bruce Springsteen. Tony Soprano, however, “ is perhaps the fictional character most associated with Jersey.” he said.
After graduating from Rutgers University, Gandolfini was in a handful of low-budget films before making his Broadway debut in A Streetcar Named Desire. He made a few other films before being cast as Tony Soprano by series creator David Chase. The show was an immediate hit when it made its debut on Jan. 10, 1999.
Bailey’s 350-page book is broken into 24 chapters, at delves into Gandolfini’s career and off-screen life. And it’s not all pretty. The Soprano years are extensively covered, of course, from the show’s breakthrough success to the toll it took on Gandolfini’s mental and physical health.
Bailey doesn’t shy away from the darker chapters: chronic overwork, substance abuse, emotional strain, missed shoots, and the struggle with the identity of the character of Tony Soprano bleeding into real life. As an actor, Gandolfini was humble to the point of insecurity, which often played into his personal demons.
Gandolfini was also generous however. After securing a lucrative new contract for himself, he gave each of his co-stars a $36,000 check.
After The Sopranos wrapped, Gandolfini produced a series of documentaries for HBO; returned to Broadway, where he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in God of Carnage; and starred in two other films before his unexpected death from a heart attack while on vacation in Italy on June 19, 2013. He was 51.
Gandolfini: Jim, Tony and the Life of a Legend, is Bailey’s sixth book. He’s previously written about the history of the cinema in New York; Pulp Fiction; Richard Pryor; and the films of Woody Allen. Bailey is a film critic who has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and many other publications.
