“Sopranos” star Joseph Siravo, who played Tony Soprano’s father, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 64.
The news of Siravo’s death was confirmed online by actor Gary Pastore, who posted an Instagram tribute to the late actor: “RIP my best friend, who fought an incredible fight. I will miss you. I’ll see you on the other side. ”The actor Kelli O’Hara also honored Siravo and noted on Twitter that“ the stage and the screen and I’ll miss you. ”
Siravo is best known for his work on television and theater. On HBO’s “Sopranos,” he played Johnny Soprano – a featured prominently in 1960s flashback episodes – and later played Ron Goldman’s father Fred Goldman in FX’s “The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story.”
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 the 2016 film ‘Equity’ by Meera Menon, as well as in ‘Motherless Brooklyn’, ‘The Wannabe’, ‘Shark Tale’ and ‘Night Falls on Manhattan’. .
Born and raised in Washington DC, the actor received his MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts theater program at NYU. He made his screen debut in “Carlito’s Way” (1993) and soon landed the role of Johnny Soprano in the HBO hit “The Sopranos,” which ran for six seasons.
Siravo has also starred in Broadway productions of the Tony Award-winning “Oslo” and “The Light in the Piazza.” Earlier in his career he performed in a national tour of ‘Jersey Boys’.
The actor has made numerous off-Broadway and regional theater credits to his credit, including Off-Broadway New York productions of ‘Mad Forest’ and ‘Up Against the Wind’, as well as ‘My Night With Reg’ and ‘The Root’. Regional credits include “Hamlet” at the Long Wharf, “Anthony & Cleopatra” at Berkeley Rep, and “Last of the Boys” at the McCarter Theater.
Siravo was also highly regarded as a teacher at various acting schools in New York. After graduating from NYU, where he trained under Ron Van Lieu, Olympia Dukakis and Nora Dunfee, he eventually joined the NYU Grad Acting faculty, where he taught Shakespeare.