Sopranos' star Joseph Siravo passes away at 64
Washington, US: American actor Joseph Siravo, widely known for playing Johnny Soprano -- Tony Soprano's father -- on the popular sitcom 'Sopranos', has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 64. His friend and 'Sopranos' co-star Gary Pastore confirmed the news on Sunday night and shared a tribute on his Instagram handle reported Variety. "RIP my dear friend, who fought an incredible fight. I will miss you. See you on the other side," he wrote in the caption.
Born in Washington D.C. on February 12, 1957, Sivaro is best known for work in television as well as theatre. He attended Stanford University where he performed for the Stanford Mendicants, an all-male Cappella group. He graduated from Stanford in 1977 with a BA and received his MFA from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Theatre Program in 1980, where he trained under the guidance of Ron Van Lieu, Olympia Dukakis and Nora Dunfee. The actor made his screen debut in the 1993 crime drama 'Carlito's Way', and soon landed the Johnny Soprano role in HBO hit 'The Sopranos', which ran for six seasons.
He later portrayed Fred Goldman in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story'. Siravo also starred in Broadway productions of the Tony Award-winning 'Oslo' and 'The Light in the Piazza'. Earlier in his career, he performed on a national tour of 'Jersey Boys'. In 2006, Siravo was part of the first national tour of the phenomenally successful musical Jersey Boys, based on the career and music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He played Genovese family boss Gyp DeCarlo and stayed with the production until 2012, performing in 38 cities. Other recent credits include TV series such as 'For Life', 'The Blacklist', 'Made in Jersey', 'Dirty Sexy Money', and 'Law and Order'. In the film, he appeared in the Adam Driver-led 'The Report', and Meera Menon's 2016 film 'Equity'.
