Ray Curto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Raymond Curto | |
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| First appearance | "Meadowlands", (episode 1.04) |
| Last appearance | "Members Only", (episode 6.01) (death) |
| Cause/reason | Died of heart failure |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Portrayed by | George Loros |
| Information | |
| Aliases | "Buffalo Ray" |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 70s (Deceased) |
| Occupation | Mobster/FBI-informant |
| Title | Former Capo of the Curto Crew in the DiMeo Crime Family |
Raymond "Buffalo Ray" Curto, played by George Loros, was a fictional character on the HBO original series The Sopranos. An elderly Capo in the DiMeo Crime Family, Curto was also an FBI-informant almost throughout the entire series when he was casted on the show. Raymond is loosely based on Colombo crime family mobster William Cutolo.
A Caporegime in the DiMeo/Soprano crime family prior to season one, little is known about Raymond, except that he was approached by Tony to replace Jackie Aprile, Sr as Boss of the DiMeo Crime Family (Jackie was in a coma and close to death at that point in time). Raymond declined the honor, and insisted, along with the other capos, that Tony should take over instead, fearing Tony's uncle and fellow capo Corrado "Junior" Soprano would step up as the new Boss.
However, Raymond was also an FBI informant, as revealed in the episode, "Proshai, Livushka" It has never been disclosed why he became an informant, although he was briefly seen in the episode "Nobody Knows Anything" being busted at a brothel along with Vin Makazian. Additionally, Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero told FBI Agent Skip Lipari that it was Ray Curto who took over Junior's luxury car "export" business down at the ports in the episode entitled, "Commendatori". Whether this statement by Pussy was true, or if it was him simply protecting Tony, remains unknown - but it may have played a part in Ray Curto being "flipped." Raymond also has an unknown son with multiple sclerosis, so perhaps Ray's motivation to be an informant was to stay out of jail and have the ability to care for him.
At Christmas time in 2000, Raymond was present at Satriale's, prior to the annual holiday celebration held there and openly discussed Pussy Bonpensiero's murder, stating that he'd wished he had been along. It is unknown whether he was wired-up during this conversation, in an attempt to link Tony Soprano and the others to the murder.
In 2004, many members of the DiMeo Crime Family attended a birthday party for Raymond, however, during his party he resented hostile remarks by several of his fellow associates, making it even clearer that he does not like being there. During the same year, he provided a tape of Tony Soprano and Vito Spatafore discussing construction bids.
Unexpectedly, Raymond died of a stroke in 2006 while giving potentially damaging information to Agent Sanseverino about Tony (Ray indicated he had a poor sound quality tape of Tony discussing a murder). Curto was handled by both Agent Sanseverino and Agent Grasso. Raymond has the distinction of being the longest-tenured "rat" in the series, and for never being caught or suspected as such. How much damage, if any, that he caused the Soprano crime family was never determined.
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