Livia Soprano

Livia Soprano
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"Proshai, Livushka" (episode 3.02) (death) "In Camelot" (episode 5.07) (flashback)
Cause/reason	Stroke
Created by	David Chase
Portrayed by	Nancy Marchand
Episode count	28 (with flashbacks) 24 (without flashbacks)
Information
Gender	Female
Age	72 (Deceased)
Date of death	2001
Occupation	Homemaker
Family	Gemma Pollio (sister) Quintina Blundetto (sister) Settimia Pollio (sister) (deceased) A.J. Soprano (grandson) Meadow Soprano (granddaughter) Tony Blundetto (nephew)(deceased) Carmela Soprano (daughter-in-Law) Bobby Baccalieri (son-in-Law) (deceased) Thomas Giglione Jr. (son-in-Law)
Spouse(s)	Johnny Boy Soprano (husband)(deceased)
Children	Tony Soprano (son) Janice Soprano Baccalieri (daughter) Barbara Soprano Giglione (daughter)

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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.

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 told Carmela that Tony would eventually be bored with her. 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'), by mentioning that Tony was seeing a psychiatrist, and she later told Junior that Tony looked exactly like her cousin Cakey after he had his lobotomy, saying that his old mother said it was better Cakey have died than go on living like that (this conversation followed a dinner at the Sopranos' house, where Tony came to the dinner table in his bathrobe). It was later discovered that the FBI had bugged Green Grove (Livia's nursing home), and the recordings of Livia conspiring with Junior were played to Tony. While she was in hospital, she received a visit from Artie Bucco. She then told him that it was Tony who had burned down his restaurant, presumably, in another attempt to have Tony killed. 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. However, whilst Tony originally attempted to suffocate her with a pillow, he then quickly changed tactic when he heard his mother had suffered a stroke. He then publicly threatened to kill her, informing her that he had heard her conspiring with Junior, thanks to the FBI tapes, saying "I know what you did", and "I'm gonna have a nice, long, happy life, which is more than I can say for you". However, Tony saw Livia smirking at him, and, when Tony pointed this out, he had to be restrained by the hospital staff. 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 due to his enforced responsibility of her thanks to Janice's departure at the end of the previous season. 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 experiences a brief flashback of a meeting with Livia, showing footage of a scene from a first season episode. Livia nevertheless appeared as a young woman in several flashbacks after 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 after her death, while saving few 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 a 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. Tony then hears a childs voice calling "Daddy, don't go. Come back." He then awakens to see his daughter Meadow and wife Carmela standing over him.

External links

• HBO Profile: Livia Soprano