Livia Soprano
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| Livia Soprano | |
|---|---|
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| First appearance | "Pilot" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "Proshai, Livushka" (episode 3.02) |
| Cause/reason | Stroke |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Portrayed by | Nancy Marchand |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 72 (Deceased) |
| Occupation | Homemaker |
| Family | Quintina Blundetto (sister) A.J. Soprano (grandson) Meadow Soprano (granddaughter) Tony Blundetto (nephew)(Deceased) Carmela Soprano (Daughter-in-Law) Bobby Baccalieri (Son-in-Law) (Deceased) |
| Spouse(s) | Johnny Boy Soprano (husband)(Deceased) |
| Children | Tony Soprano (son) Janice Soprano (daughter) Barbara Soprano Giglione (daughter) |
Livia Soprano (née Pollio), played by Nancy Marchand, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the mother of Tony Soprano. A young Livia, played by Laila Robins and later by Laurie J. Williams is sometimes seen in flashbacks. David Chase has stated that the main inspiration for the character is his own mother.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Livia Soprano, the family matriarch, was scheming, manipulative, conniving and abusive. She seemingly derived little pleasure from life other than making the people around her miserable, especially her three children, Tony, Barbara (who moved away years ago) and Janice. She even tried to manipulate her brother-in-law, Junior, into putting out a hit on her own son after he tried to put her in a nursing home (or, as he maintained, a 'retirement community'). Tony's plot for revenge was foiled when Livia suffered a pseudo-stroke (said to be induced by repressed rage) and was taken into a hospital. When she got out, Tony settled for acting as if she were already dead, attempting to end all contact and financial support. Tony's hostility toward Livia never diminished, although he did seem to be more accommodating of her toward the end of the second season after arriving at her house to visit Janice. In the second episode of the third season, "Proshai, Livushka", Tony is seen to be significantly more tolerant of Livia, although this is possibly down to his enforced responsibility of her thanks to Janice's departure at the end of the previous season and his brief meeting with her in the same episode ends with the pair arguing before Tony storms out of the house.
Based on her conversations with Tony, Dr. Melfi speculated that Livia might suffer from some form of borderline or narcissistic personality disorder.
After the second season, a storyline was planned where Livia would be called to testify against her son in court, giving evidence on stolen airline tickets she had received from him, but Marchand died in 2000, before it could be filmed. Existing footage and computer-generated imagery was used to create a final scene between Tony and Livia in the episode "Proshai, Livushka" in Season Three before the character too passed on. In the same episode, Artie Bucco experiences a brief flashback of a meeting with Livia, showing footage of a scene from a season one episode. Livia has nevertheless appeared as a young woman in several flashbacks since then, as well as being frequently referenced, with Tony still far from resolving his feelings towards her.
Janice, during a conversation with Carmela calls into question whether or not her mother loved them, and that in therapy her therapist explained to her that she did indeed love them, but could not express it. Based on the fact that she manipulated Junior to kill her son after placing her in a nursing home, it is somewhat doubtful. However, though a miserable, pessimistic person through life, she did seem to take pleasure in classical Italian music, and did seem to love her grandchildren, Anthony Jr., and Meadow; overjoyed to see Anthony when he came to visit her in the hospital, and giving Meadow money as a reward for getting into good colleges. She also saved Tony's varsity letters from when he played football, which Tony was touched to find she saved after her death, while saving little of Barbara's possessions and none of Janice's. Based on this, it could be said that while she was narcissistic, beyond herself she did love her family, Tony the most for taking care of her, and Barbara second for doing little, and Janice the least, because she never helped care for her.
During the Sixth Season episode "Mayham," when Tony is comatose from a gunshot wound, he has a vivid dream that some have construed as being a rendition of purgatory. The dream ends with Tony being beckoned into a house by his dead cousin Tony Blundetto; a woman who looks similar to Livia can briefly be seen in the doorway of the house.
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