Soprano Star James Gandolfini Defined The Modern American Mobster

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia at Philly.com offers a piece on James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano and modern gangsters.

We were expecting an order of lead after the onion rings. Instead, the world faded to black, and we were left to wonder.

Now we wonder no more. Tony Soprano, as it turns out, didn't get whacked in North Jersey back in 2007. He died of a heart attack while vacationing in Rome. It happened last week, and the media went nuts.

"Tony Soprano Dead," screamed the front page of the New York Post. "Tony's Dead," countered the New York Daily News, implying that the surname was superfluous.

Even in death, at 51, James Gandolfini was treated as one with the character that defined his brief but acclaimed career. A Jersey guy born and bred, Gandolfini was a damn good character actor. But it was his role as the conflicted mob boss in The Sopranos, the cutting-edge HBO series about the Mafia and America, that made him a star.

Tony Soprano was the face of the American mob at the start of the 21st century. John Gotti, Vincent Gigante, Nicky Scarfo, and Joey Merlino might have been the real-life characters whose names showed up in headlines and at the top of racketeering indictments. But for most Americans, it was Tony.

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