Joseph Siravo, who played Tony Soprano’s father Johnny in the hit TV drama The Sopranos, has died aged 64 after a long battle with cancer.
Siravo also featured in the Tony Award-winning stage musical Jersey Boys, as well as the crime series The People v OJ Simpson.
The Sopranos ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007, winning multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
Siravo’s character appeared in flashbacks to the 1960s as Tony’s father, with whom he had a troubled relationship.
James Gandolfini, who portrayed Tony, died in 2013 but several of the show’s other stars have paid tribute to Siravo online.
“RIP my dear friend, who fought an incredible fight,” posted Garry Pastore.
“I will miss you.
“See you on the other side.”
Maureen Van Zandt called him a “talented and lovely man.”
Siravo often found himself cast as a Mafioso, playing both John and Gene Gotti of the Gambino crime family in separate projects.
More recently, he played Fred Goldman, father of the murdered waiter Ronald Goldman, in 2016’s The People v OJ Simpson.
He also appeared in the political drama film The Report in 2019.
Other recent credits include TV series For Life, The Blacklist, Made in Jersey, Dirty Sexy Money, and Law and Order, and films Equity, Motherless Brooklyn, The Wannabe, Shark Tale, and Night Falls on Manhattan.
Siravo’s agent Andrew Tetenbaum said he died on Sunday “after a long and courageous battle with colon cancer”.
Allegra Okarmus, Siravo’s daughter, shared the news on her social media accounts, saying: “I was by his side when my dear father passed away this morning, peacefully, in his beloved treehouse.
“We are both so lucky to be so intensely loved.
“I am so immensely grateful to have had him here on earth and I know that he hasn’t gone very far.”
