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| “ | There was a f-ckin' rat, so you finger me? You don't think I didn't realize what was going on? When you come to my house three o'clock in the f-ckin' afternoon telling me you're my "friend". That's when I knew I was in trouble Anthony. When out of blue you start telling me you're my "friend." | „ |
| ~ Salvatore Bonpensiero to Tony Soprano. |
| “ | Jesus Christ... I gotta sit down. I feel like I can't stand! Is that ok, Tony? Can I sit- | „ |
| ~ Big Pussy's last words before he's shot to death mid-sentence by Tony, Silvio, and Paulie. |
Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, or just simply known as Puss or Pussy, is a major antagonist in the HBO television series The Sopranos and a supporting character in its 2021 prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.
A high-ranking soldier of the DiMeo Crime Family, he was the longtime best-friend of mob boss Tony Soprano as well as being close friends with fellow mobsters Paulie Gualtieri and Silvio Dante respectively. However, despite being one of Tony's closest friends, Bonpensiero becomes an FBI Informant after getting arrested - which drastically hurts Tony morally.
He was portrayed by Vincent Pastore, who also portrayed Luca in Shark Tale, in the series and by Samson Moeakiola in The Many Saints of Newark.
Quick Answers
What role does Salvatore Bonpensiero play in The Sopranos?
Why does Bonpensiero become an FBI informant in The Sopranos?
How does Bonpensiero's betrayal affect Tony Soprano?
What is the relationship between Tony Soprano and Salvatore Bonpensiero?
How is Bonpensiero portrayed in the prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark?
Personality[]
Salvatore Bonpensiero was a kind-hearted man who loved his wife Angie and their three children; he was also a long-time friend of Tony's. However, the money he made from the DiMeo crime family was not enough to raise his three children and put them through college and he began trafficking heroin on the side. Tony Soprano, his capo, and Jackie Aprile Sr., then acting boss of the family, were aware of his sideline and urged him to stop dealing.
Biography[]
Past[]
Salvatore was born on March the 4th in 1947. He started off as a cat burglar and earned the nickname "Big Pussy" from it. He also ran an auto body shop with his brother. He became a soldier in the Soprano crew and a member of the DiMeo Crime Family. He was caught by the FBI and was offered to work as an informant against the Soprano crew or face 30 years in prison. Since 30 years in prison would mean him dying behind bars, Pussy chose to become an informant.
Season One[]
In 1998, Pussy was an essential part of the Soprano crew's operation and was exposed to a number of things he could have reported such as intimidating a debtor into starting up DiMeo associate Hesh Rabkin and Soprano's HMO insurance scam or helping Christopher Moltisanti bury the body of a man he killed. He was once assigned to retrieve a car stolen from Tony's son's teacher. He found the thieves and kidnapped them but the car had already been destroyed. He schemed a plan steal a car of the same model and repaint it.
He was arrested months later (1999) but was quickly bailed out by was wife and confined to his home. Shortly afterwards, a corrupt police officer told Tony that there was a mole in his crew and pointed at Pussy, hinting to Soprano that he was the traitor. Tony assigned Paulie Gualtieri to see if he could feel out where Pussy's loyalties were by checking him for a wire, even authorizing him to kill his old friend if he saw one with his own eyes. Paulie invited Pussy to a bathhouse, where he refused to get undressed and left, claiming he had high blood pressure, making the gang more suspicious of him.
Season Two[]
Pussy resurfaced at the Sopranos' home in early August 1999 claiming to have been in Puerto Rico getting treatment for his bad back from an acupuncturist. When reporting to the FBI after the meeting, he lied about Soprano, showing a reluctance to give anything up. He sponsored AJ at his conformation and after AJ gets caught smoking marijuana at his ceremony by his parents, Pussy spends time with him telling him that his father would do anything for him. After Christopher's gets shot by Sean Gismonte. Pussy aids Tony is locating the surviving attacker, Matthew Bevilaqua. He offers him a can of Diet Coke and proceeds to shoot him along with Tony.
Pussy eventually begins to co-operate with the FBI and gives them information on Tony's stolen airline ticket scam. Tony becomes more suspicious of him and pays him a visit to his home. While Silvio distracts Pussy, Tony goes into his bedroom and finds a wire. Later that day he invites Pussy to check out a new boat along with Paulie and Silvio. When they are at sea. The three men confront Pussy and he admits his association with the FBI. Knowing that he is about to get killed, Pussy asks Tony not to shoot him in the head. Tony tells Pussy that he was like a brother to him as he along Paulie and Silvio shoot at him. He is put into a back and thrown overboard, burying his body at sea. The three have since been haunted by this memory and of their old friends' betrayal.
Trivia[]
- Salvatore Bonpensiero could be a reference to Frank Bompensiero, a long-time caporegime with the Los Angeles crime family who was demoted to soldier by new boss Frank DeSimone, and who was accused of being a federal informant.
- Although Puss' body was stuffed inside of a bag and weighed down with chains and cinderblocks, it's possible that his body eventually managed to surface on a beach anyways. The same thing happened to the real life gangster Ernest Rupolo after he was murdered in a similar fashion, his body became bloated and washed up at Jamaica Bay in New Jersey along with his chains and cinderblocks.
External Link[]
- Salvatore Bonpensiero on the Sopranos Wiki
