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'Janice Soprano Baccalieri', played by Aida Turturro, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos''. She is Tony Soprano's elder sister. A young Janice has appeared in flashbacks, played by Madeline Blue.

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Biography

External link

Biography

After graduating high school, Janice wandered about, joining an ashram in Los Angeles, changing her name to "Parvati Wasatch," in 1978. "Parvati" also traveled across Europe, marrying a Quebecer, bearing him a son (Harpo/"Hal", revealed later to become a street person), working at an espresso bar in Seattle (and claiming disability from operating the steamed milk machine) before finally moving back to New Jersey. Her relationship with Tony is often strained, as he still holds her responsible for abandoning the family and forcing him alone to deal with their abusive mother, Livia.
While in New Jersey, she became engaged to her old flame, Richie Aprile, then recently released from prison. Although Richie's disputes with Tony could perhaps have been solved amicably, Janice continually nagged Richie about not getting his fair share, and generally inflamed tensions between the two. Whether she consciously intended to have her brother killed is uncertain, but Richie and Tony became locked on a collision course. However, before their conflict would reach its (presumably) violent conclusion, tragedy struck from within. After an incident of domestic violence in which Richie punched her in the face for defending his son's possible homosexuality, Janice shot and killed Richie, and called on her brother to dispose of the body. After a time back in Seattle, Janice again returned to New Jersey following the death of her mother.
After Livia's death, she became obsessed with acquiring her mother's valuable record collection, which had been willed to Livia's housekeeper, Svetlana. Janice, feeling that she should rightfully have the records instead, absconded with Svetlana's prosthetic leg. She told Svetlana that the leg wouldn't be returned until she received the records. Svetlana, however, had connections with the Russian mafia, and had some friends of hers physically assault Janice until she revealed the location of the leg. When Tony arrived at the hospital, he was visibly upset, but not at Svetlana. He angrily explained to Janice that since his sister had been assaulted, he was now faced with the choice of retaliating, and risking a mob war with the Russians, or not retaliating, and losing respect. Bewildered by the sudden turn in her fortunes, she became (for a while) a born-again Christian. Janice's next phase was marked by a brief interest in a Christian music career, as well as an equally brief live-in relationship with narcoleptic boyfriend Aaron Arkaway.
After the death of Jackie Aprile, Jr., Janice embarked on a clandestine relationship with Ralph Cifaretto, at the time engaged to Jackie Jr.'s mother, Rosalie Aprile. She soon reached the conclusion that her clandestine relationship with Ralph was a mistake, and when an enthusiastic Ralph appeared at her house and happily told her that he was no longer seeing Rosalie Aprile, Janice responded by flying into a rage, pushing him down a flight of stairs and screaming at him to leave.
Some time later her brother asked her about Ralph's bizarre sexual fetishes, of which he had recently become aware. She refused to tell him anything at first, ostensibly to protect Ralph's privacy. When Tony offered her money, however, she immediately told him everything he wanted to know.
Following Ralph's disappearance, she fixed her intentions on the newly-widowed Bobby Baccalieri, yet another of Tony's ''capos''. Initially, she cooked Bobby's dinners and informally dated him. However, frustrated with Bobby's refusal to commit, she sent Bobby's children some instant messages via her Mac, choosing a user name that appeared satanic, and indicated to them that she was watching them by referring to things in their room (which she was able to see from her window) and succeeded in scaring them badly. She subsequently rushed over to help comfort the bawling Baccalieri kids and win points with their bewildered father. She and Bobby eventually married.
She attacked a mother at a peewee soccer game and injured her badly enough to require hospitalization, garnering her an assault charge and, to Tony's displeasure, unwanted TV news coverage. Bobby also insisted that she attend anger management counseling, although it is unclear whether that had its desired effect.
Although she would never admit it, Janice is a great deal like her mother; she is at heart a manipulative narcissist who, unlike the other mob wives, openly discusses business with both her brother and her husband.
In the episode "Moe and Joe", Tony, as part of another arrangement, convinces John Sacrimoni to sell his McMansion to Janice and Bobby at half-price, to make up for Tony's unfair treatment of his sister and brother-in-law.
Janice and Bobby have a baby girl, Domenica. Janice and Bobby own a cottage in northern New York state, to which they invite Tony and Carmela for Tony's 47th birthday. At the party, Janice gives Tony some family home videos transferred onto DVD, and she tells Carmela of an anecdote, concerning their father shooting Livia through her beehive hairdo, that embarrasses Tony when it is raised again during a heated game of Monopoly.
Janice suggests to Tony that he help pay to keep Uncle Junior, whose money has run out, in a private care facility and is rebuffed by Tony. Soon afterwards, she becomes a widow when Bobby is murdered by two of Phil Leotardo's hitmen while buying a model train in a hobby store.
Murders Committed by Soprano
Richie Aprile: Gunshot to the chest; shot after he punched her in the face.

External link

★ HBO Profile: Janice Soprano