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| “ | I’ve lent a lot of money, once the chiseling starts, "oh I forgot," who forgets? F-ck him. | „ |
| ~ Hesh Rabkin. |
Herman "Hesh" Rabkin is a supporting character in the HBO Television Series The Sopranos.
He is the close Jewish associate of the DiMeo Crime Family, who acts as a somewhat consigliere in the early seasons to mob boss, Tony Soprano. He was also a close friend of Johnny Soprano, who was Tony's late father.
He was portrayed by Jerry Adler.
Personality[]
Compared to the more hot-headed and rough personalities of the other mobsters in the DiMeo Family, Hesh is more reasonable and calm. Despite not being able to become a made man, as he is Jewish, Hesh is still treated that way, constantly being seen playing cards with the other gangsters at Satriale's, along with being treated as somewhat of a consigliere, along with Silvio Dante.
However, despite being a fair man, Hesh is not close to being a good one. Hesh is a rich loanshark and doesn't always use his intelligence for good and is also not disgusted or displeased with the criminal activities that surround him. Despite this, Hesh is still the most calm member of the DiMeo Family, with him always giving Tony advice in tough times, with him even acting the most reasonable when Hesh and Tony get into conflict during the sixth season. Overall, while Hesh is a criminal, he still is a highly intelligent and reasonable man.
Biography[]
Past[]
Herman "Hesh" Rabkin was born on February 4, 1929 in New Jersey. Hesh had known the Sopranos for a long time and served as an advisor to Giovanni "Johnny Boy" Soprano and has known Tony since he was a young boy. Because of his friendship with the family, Hesh was able to operate without having to pay any protection to the family as Tony and Johnny both chose to be generous with him. Hesh produced several songs written by black youth and obtained royalties by fraudulently adding his name as a co-writer.
Despite his good relationship with the Sopranos, Hesh conned Johnny Boy's mistress Fran out of her retirement money and never did anything to make it up to her.
The Sopranos[]
When Tony's uncle Junior plans to have someone killed at his friend Artie's restaurant, Hesh offers Tony some helpful advice on how to prevent the hit. Hesh is present when the mobsters are in Jackie Aprile's hospital room and some of them are insensitive to his cancer. Hesh seems more understanding than them. When Tony can't intimidate Ariel Teittleman, he calls Hesh who advises him to castrate him, which works.
Junior decides to tax Hesh who then brings the matter to Tony's attention. Tony manipulates Junior into lowering the tax and then returns his share to Hesh for which he is very grateful. When a descendant of one of the black men Hesh ripped off tries to sue him Hesh is openly dismissive of what he did and makes subtle racist remarks towards him. Tony supports Hesh who also counter sues Massive Genius. Hesh advises Christopher Moltisanti about his girlfriend's band and bluntly tells them they aren't very good though this more out of concern than cruelty.
When Tony's therapist won't see him, he tries to seek out Hesh as a sympathetic ear, but this doesn't work, as Hesh is very self-centered and keeps bringing it back to his own problems.
Hesh sells his horse, Pie-Oh-My to Ralph Cifaretto. He helped Silvio Dante in his conflict with Anti-Columbus protestors by putting him in touch with Jerry Schwartz.
When Tony discovered about Fran being conned, Hesh was forced to pay compensation, but no further punishment was made. When he and his son-in-law Eli were brutalized by Phil Leotardo's men, Tony came to Phil and got generous compensation for Hesh and Eli. When Tony became in debt due to a string of gambling losses, Hesh chose to help his friend by lending him some money.
However, things turned bitter when Hesh asked Tony when he would get the money back and Tony continually insulted him with condescending jokes about his Judaism. Hesh badmouthed Tony to Eli, feeling humiliated by Tony's abuse of him and suggested Tony may eliminate him to avoid paying. Eli shot this down as Tony had been a big help to him in hospital.
Bobby Baccalieri did suggest Tony eliminate Hesh, but Tony angrily shot this down. It wasn't until Hesh's girlfriend Renata died of a stroke that Tony finally came to his senses and paid his old friend. However, Tony's words of comfort seemed rather empty and it seems his relationship with Hesh was damaged forever, as he did not even attend the funerals for Bobby and Christopher.
Trivia[]
- Hesh is mentioned in the prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark, by Dickie Moltisanti when giving advice to a young Tony Soprano.
External Links[]
- Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos Wiki
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 Villains
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DiMeo Crime Family Lupertazzi Crime Family Vittorio/Zucca Camorra family Philadelphia Crime Family/Buscetta Crime Family Other | ||