Anna Daniels
The ironically named Junior (Dominic Chianese) is one of the oldest members of the Soprano family — and the soon-to-be boss of the DiMeo crime family — at the start of the series. Exactly how old is causing controversy.
Reddit user SC_Ravel recently pointed out that Junior’s precise year of birth is revealed in the third season to be 1929, which would make him around 70 when the show starts. However, in season 5, the headstone of Junior’s younger brother Johnny Boy (played in flashbacks by Joseph Siravo) shows the deceased mob captain’s birthdate as 1924. Unless there’s some time travel or number fudging going on here, that’s clearly impossible.
This isn’t the only instance when Junior’s given birth year seems suspiciously late. In the second season, Junior’s lawyer Harold Melvoin (Richard Portnow) tells a judge that his client is a World War II veteran. But if Junior was born in 1929, he was only 16 — at the oldest — by the end of the war on September 2, 1945. He would have had to be 18 to enlist for military service.
Given that Melvoin is also trying to convince the judge that his client is considerably sicker than he actually is, it’s not impossible that he’s lying about Junior’s service record, or at least exaggerating. But the discrepancy raises questions about which date is wrong — and why.
Written by: Looper
