Bobby Baccalieri
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bobby Bacala" Baccalieri, Jr., played by Steve R. Schirripa, is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the HBO TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

. He was a Capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...

 and later the acting underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...

 of the DiMeo Crime Family
DiMeo Crime Family
The DiMeo crime family, later referred to as the Soprano crime family, is a fictional Mafia family from the HBO series The Sopranos. It is thought to be loosely based on the DeCavalcante crime family, a real New Jersey Mafia family....

, as well as Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...

's brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...

. He was formerly one of the top aides to Corrado "Junior" Soprano
Junior Soprano
Corrado John Soprano, Jr., played by Dominic Chianese, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Usually referred to as "Junior" or "Uncle Jun", he is the mentor and surrogate father for capo Tony Soprano. A younger Corrado sometimes appears in flashbacks and is played by Rocco...

.

Biography

Bobby Bacala, unlike many of his fellow wiseguys, was big-hearted and quite shy. He ran Junior Soprano's old loan shark business. Although not officially a captain until much later, Bobby was a high-ranking soldier who ran Junior Soprano's old crew and reported directly to Junior, and later to Tony. Before his death, he was thought to be being groomed for the job of boss, if Tony were whacked or arrested. Bobby was the son of Bobby Baccalieri, Sr., a highly respected mobster (whom Tony Soprano referred to as "a real terminator"), who fronted as a barber. Bobby's father returned from retirement for one last job before his death from lung cancer, which Bobby found quite distressing. Before joining Junior Soprano
Junior Soprano
Corrado John Soprano, Jr., played by Dominic Chianese, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Usually referred to as "Junior" or "Uncle Jun", he is the mentor and surrogate father for capo Tony Soprano. A younger Corrado sometimes appears in flashbacks and is played by Rocco...

's crew Bobby was a head waiter until at least 1986 and was groomed by his father, Bobby Sr. At some point, Bobby became a made man, although without making his bones (committing murder). Bobby was married to Karen Baccalieri until her death and they had two children, Bobby III and Sophia.

Bobby was quite different from the other men in the Soprano crime family. He was quiet, almost shy, sweet and even-tempered; these traits made him well liked, if not necessarily respected. He was obese, which brought him much ridicule, but he was very loyal and even Tony apologized to him after making cracks about his weight. In turn, Bobby was always respectful, and sometimes affectionate, towards Tony, telling him, "I always liked you", in the aftermath of a feud that saw Tony order the deaths of several members of Junior Soprano's crew that Bobby was in. He bore no lasting grudges against Paulie Gualtieri
Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...

 or Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...

, who carried out these hits, and appeared briefly looking delighted on the day Christopher was "made".

Bobby operated Junior Soprano's loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....

 business in his stead and acted as Junior's assistant while Junior was under house arrest on federal racketeering charges. Junior eventually rewarded him by putting Bobby in charge of his loan shark operation during the later part of his prosecution. Bobby was made acting capo when Junior had Murf Lupo step down in "For All Debts Public and Private
For All Debts Public and Private (The Sopranos episode)
"For All Debts Public and Private" is the fortieth episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the first episode of the show's fourth season...

".

Bobby was very loyal to his wife, Karen, and (as revealed in "Christopher") was the only made man in the Soprano crew without a comaré
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

. The only time he was ever seen with another woman other than his wife was in the episode University. When Ralphie walks back into the Bada Bing
Bada Bing
The Bada Bing! is a fictional strip club from the HBO drama television series The Sopranos. It was a key location for events in the series, named for catchphrase "bada bing", a phrase popularized by James Caan in The Godfather. The popularization of the fictional club benefited the real-life go-go...

! after beating Tracee to death, Bobby could be seen talking to another stripper. However, Bobby lost his wife in a car accident and took it especially hard. Following Karen's death, Janice Soprano
Janice Soprano
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 and Juliet Fox.-Biography:...

, along with many other women, actively pursued Bobby, trying to help him out as much as possible (with cooking and watching over Bobby's two children) but also trying to initiate a relationship with him.

When his grief continued, Janice went so far as to use the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 to expose his children to a Ouija
Ouija
The Ouija board also known as a spirit/fire key board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye", and other symbols and words are sometimes also added to help personalize the board...

 board within their house. This frightened them and cleared a path for Janice to demonstrate that Bobby's grief was affecting his children. Despite Bobby's initial reluctance, the two were soon married and he soon fathered a daughter, Domenica. Bobby remained unaware of his wife's machinations at the start of their relationship. Bobby also enjoyed playing with model trains.

Since 2001, when he assisted Tony in rescuing Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...

 and Paulie Gualtieri
Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...

 from the Pine Barrens (in the eponymous episode), Bobby had grown closer to Tony. Additionally, as Ralph Cifaretto put it, "Dating the boss's sister will help a made man's career"; nevertheless, Tony had recently stepped up his expectations of Bobby, whom he felt was taking their newfound family relationship as an excuse not to earn at a competitive level, compared to other members of the family. Bobby rose to the occasion by supplementing his income with $7,000 he received for shooting a rapper he met at the hospital, while Tony was in the ICU
ICU
ICU may refer to:*I.C.U. , an Australian thriller starring Christian Radford*Intensive care unit, a specialized facility in a hospital that provides intensive care medicine...

, in order to raise the rapper's profile.

In the Season Six episode, "The Ride
The Ride (The Sopranos episode)
"The Ride" is the seventy-fourth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the ninth of the show's sixth season. It was written by Terence Winter, directed by Alan Taylor and originally aired on May 7, 2006.-Guest starring:...

" Bobby's wife, son and youngest daughter were involved in a ride accident at the feast of St. Elzear, while he took his other daughter to the bathroom. Bobby's initial reaction was relief that his family was unhurt. However, at a Sunday dinner at the Soprano residence, Janice berated Bobby for not standing up for them. She later accompanied him when he paid a visit to the ride's owner. Bobby stormed into his motel room, beat him up and tried to extort money from him but learned that Paulie Gualtieri had been responsible for withholding the funds needed to repair the ride. Bobby tracked Paulie down at the festival and angrily confronted him; the two were separated by other associates in the crime family. At Christopher's belated bachelor party
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...

, Bobby left soon after Paulie arrived. Tony ordered Paulie to make things right with Bobby. The episode demonstrated Bobby's devotion to his family, but also confirmed his credentials as a man not to be crossed lightly, further cementing his position in the higher echelons of Tony's crew.

In the Season Six episode, "Moe N' Joe
Moe N' Joe (The Sopranos episode)
"Moe n' Joe" is the seventy-fifth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the tenth of the show's sixth season. It was written by Matthew Weiner, directed by Steve Shill and originally aired on May 14, 2006.-Episode recap:...

", Bobby was beaten and robbed by a street gang as he was making his collections. One of the gang members fired a shot at the sidewalk near Bacala's face and a concrete fragment injured his right eye. The injury left his sight in the eye uncertain. Despite the injury, Bobby made certain his payments reached Tony, by way of a concerned Carlo Gervasi, who visited Bobby at the hospital.

Bobby's injury prompted Tony to reassess his relationship with his sister and brother-in-law. Tony's feelings of guilt prompted him to broker an agreement with Johnny Sack
Johnny Sack
John "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, played by Vince Curatola, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family...

 that allowed Bobby and his family to buy Sack's house at half price.

In the Season Six Episode, "Soprano Home Movies
Soprano Home Movies
"Soprano Home Movies" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and seventy-eighth episode overall. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of the show's sixth season, the broadcast of which was split into two...

", during a Monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

game with Bobby, Carmela, and Janice, Tony began to make rude remarks towards Janice in reference to her promiscuous behavior as a younger woman, which Bobby took as a disrespectful affront. Unexpectedly, a usually meek and passive Bobby launched his fist into Tony's face, knocking him to the floor. Bobby won the fight, battering the inebriated Tony quite severely but also injuring his boss's pride. Tony, although reasonably gracious in defeat, was embarrassed at having been defeated in a brawl (especially by Bobby of all people) and frequently asserted to Bobby, Janice, and Carmela that he would have won the fight had he not slipped on the rug nor undergone such physical impotence after being shot by Uncle Junior. As a partial result of this awkward incident, Bobby was tasked with murdering the brother-in-law of one of Tony's Québécois
French-speaking Quebecer
French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....

 associates, an important hit that formed part of a deal to save money on a pharmaceuticals racket. It was Bobby's first murder; Tony mentioned earlier that Bobby had never "popped his cherry" with wetwork.

Bobby's attitude was also affected by Tony's plan to promote him to Acting Boss. Tony wanted to bring Bobby up into the administration of the organization, because his earlier plan of positioning Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...

 as his emissary and eventual heir had failed, following their personal falling out. While Paulie Walnuts nominally held the title of Underboss, Bacala attended high-level meetings and sit-downs alongside Tony and Silvio, identifying him as a high-ranking capo. Even though Bobby was just a capo at the time, he was still consulted in strategy sessions, such as when Tony consulted Bobby about what to do about Phil Leotardo's attempts to displace him as boss of the family. A few years earlier, Tony would have never brought Bobby into such a high-level discussion. And unlike Moltisanti, Bobby neither took Tony's trust for granted nor his new position lightly. Conscious of his abrupt rise from low level soldier to 'de-facto' underboss, Bobby actually worked hard to keep Tony's trust and respect, rather than simply coasting on his goodwill as Moltisanti had, and his loyalty and work ethic did not go unnoticed or unappreciated by Tony.

When war erupted between the New Jersey and New York families in the episode "The Blue Comet
The Blue Comet
"The Blue Comet" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and eighty-fifth episode overall. It is the eighth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two separate batches and the show's penultimate episode...

", New York boss Phil Leotardo ordered the deaths of the DeMeo family's top three "guys": Bacala, Silvio Dante
Silvio Dante
Silvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...

, and Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...

. FBI agent Dwight Harris
Dwight Harris
Special Agent Dwight Harris, played by Matt Servitto, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is an FBI agent assigned to Tony Soprano's case...

 informed Tony at Satriale
Satriale's Pork Store
Satriale's Pork Store is a fictional establishment on the HBO series The Sopranos. As told in the television show, during the 1970s, the pork store was taken over by Johnny Boy Soprano, a member of The DiMeo Crime Family, when Francis Satriale failed to make payments on a gambling debt and later...

's that a snitch in Brooklyn had implied: Phil had ordered a major hit on the New Jersey crew. Tony then gave orders to inform everyone of the upcoming assassination plot. Bobby left his cell phone behind as he entered a hobby shop, preventing him from receiving the warning call. While Bobby was looking at a vintage Blue Comet
Blue Comet
thumb|right|New Jersey Southern RR and connectionsThe Blue Comet was a named passenger train operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey from 1929 to 1941 between the New York metropolitan area and Atlantic City. Designed by Central Railroad of New Jersey president R.B...

 train set, two men entered the store and opened fire. Multiple gunshots sent Bobby's riddled body crashing on top of a model train display. Later in the episode, when a saddened Tony reflects on Bobby's death, while holding the assault rifle that Bobby gave him on his birthday, Tony flashes back to the moment when he and Bobby were fishing, contemplating their own fates. Bobby observes that when getting killed, you "probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?"

Until at least the first half of season 6, Bobby drives a 1980s Lincoln Mark VII, and his family car after marrying Janice is a third generation Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Grand Cherokee
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a Mid-size SUV produced by the Jeep division of Chrysler. While some other SUVs were manufactured with body on frame construction, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has always used a unibody chassis.- Development :...

, which, in Soprano Home Movies
Soprano Home Movies
"Soprano Home Movies" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and seventy-eighth episode overall. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of the show's sixth season, the broadcast of which was split into two...

, he backs into a tree while drunk. In "The Blue Comet
The Blue Comet
"The Blue Comet" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and eighty-fifth episode overall. It is the eighth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two separate batches and the show's penultimate episode...

", he is driving a Cadillac DeVille
Cadillac DeVille
The de Ville was originally a trim level and later a model of General Motors' Cadillac marque. The first car to bear the name was the 1949 Coupe de Ville, a prestige trim level of the Series 62 luxury coupe. The last model to be formally known as a de Ville was the 2005 Cadillac Deville, a...

, which he is seen exiting just moments before his death at the hands of Lupertazzi gunmen.

External links

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