| “ | Like the Tao says, you gotta shut one door before another one can open.
|
„ |
| ― Richie to Tony Soprano |
Richard "Richie" Aprile Sr. is a recurring character portrayed by David Proval on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was a capo in the DiMeo crime family and the older brother of former DiMeo acting boss, Giacomo "Jackie" Aprile Sr. He serves as the main antagonist of Season 2.
He was arguably one of the most ruthless characters on the show; he exhibited some of the same similar traits as DiMeo soldier and then capo Ralph "Ralphie" Cifaretto, including being impulsively violent, callous, irascible, greedy, and narcissistic. He was sadistically violent and remorseless, as demonstrated by his paralyzing of DiMeo/Soprano associate Peter "Beansie" Gaeta. He almost instantly takes on a feeling of jealousy and resentment when he finds out that Anthony "Tony" Soprano Sr., someone who is younger and who was at one time subordinate to him, is the new boss of the DiMeo crime family after his release from prison. Richie is also embarrassed by his son Richard Aprile, Jr.'s participation in ballroom dancing contests, which some old school mobsters consider to be a sign of homosexuality. Richie couldn't raise him well, because he was sent to prison in his teenage years, and in 10 years, he was grown up and wasn't like his father.
Quick Answers
What leads to Richie Aprile's death in The Sopranos?
Who is Richie Aprile's son in the series?
In which episode does Richie Aprile meet his end?
What is the relationship between Richie Aprile and Jackie Aprile?
Why does Janice decide to kill Richie Aprile in the series?
Biography[]
Richie was born in late 1940s to early 1950s[1], as presumably the oldest of four children and grew up in the same neighborhood as Tony Soprano in the Ironbound or "Down Neck" section of Newark. In the early 1970s, he began dating Janice Soprano while she was in high school, presumably breaking it off after she graduated and ran away from home in 1975, not knowing about her fad name change in 1978. Not long after, no later than 1977, Richie had a son, Richard Aprile Jr., whom he raised until at least the age of twelve. Sometime during the same decade, Richie got into a fight with Rocco DiMeo, reputedly "the toughest guy in Essex County" as well as a cousin of mob boss Ercole "Boot" DiMeo. Richie beat Rocco, taking his trademark leather jacket as a trophy.
By the late 70s, Richie was a made man with his own crew in the DiMeo crime family and as such, was senior in rank to his younger brother Jackie, as well as his friend Tony Soprano, the younger brother of Janice. Around 1978 or 1979, Richie had to speak up on their behalf after Jackie and Tony robbed the high roller "executive game" run by old-school mobster Michele "Feech" La Manna, getting away with around $20,000. Feech wanted to see the young upstarts severely punished for disrespecting him, but Richie was able to convince the higher-ups to let the two off the hook, inadvertedly paving the way to both being made in the coming years. By his release from prison at the end of the 20th century, Richie would use this knowledge to make Tony feel guilty over under compensating Richie for his prison stretch of 10 years. When Tony was initiated in 1982 for the killing of Willie Overall, Richie was among the likes of Fat Jerry Anastasia to have Tony book dinners at high-end New York restaurants and pay for the whole visit.
During the 80's, Richie ran a lucrative heroin dealing operation, recruiting his younger brother Jackie and associates such as Peter "Beansie" Gaeta to sell the product on the streets. An exchange between Beansie and Richie indicates it was the heroin peddling that got Richie investigated by law enforcement and eventually sentenced to ten years in prison, most likely for federal drug trafficking, in mid-to-late 1989, despite a costly legal defense. Richie's crew was most likely taken over by Jackie, whom maintained leadership over it even after becoming acting boss of the family.
Richie was released in fall of 1999 and immediately welcomed back into the mob. Shortly before the end of Richie's sentence, Jackie died of cancer, and upon his release, Richie came back to a very different organization with Tony Soprano as the new boss. Due to Tony's close friendship with Jackie, he ensured that Richie was taken care of including returning his old crew and rackets as well as granting him a no-show job at a fish market and letting Richie take the reins in managing the Zanone Bros. Private Carting garbage company front.
Impetuous and irascible, Richie still saw Tony as his younger brother's friend and subsequently had difficulty accepting orders from someone who was once subordinate to him. Due to Richie's belligerent narcissism, he was not satisfied with the restitutions provided by Tony and automatically felt that he was entitled to inherit everything he wanted for paying his dues in prison. Tony recognized that Richie's absence was due to his imprisonment and promised to work to give him his due, to which Richie immediately rebuffed that offer by saying that what is his is not Tony's to give. This led to a prominent feud regarding Richie laying claim to a garbage route of Tony's waste management front, which he used flagrantly used to sell cocaine.
His tensions with Tony developed throughout Season Two. One of Richie's first actions as a free man was to confront his old partner Peter Gaeta, who is an associate of DiMeo boss Tony Soprano. Richie tried to claim money from him. When Beansie failed to pay Richie at his welcome back party, Richie tracked him down again and threatened to shoot him. Later, Richie waited for Beansie by his car, and when he went to get in, Richie rammed Beansie with his car (a 1998 Ford Explorer), crushing Beansie between the two vehicles. Richie then puts the car in gear and drives over the paralyzed Beansie, then puts it in reverse and runs him over again. Richie was later forced by Tony to make amends by building Beansie a ramp for his wheelchair, to which Richie says to Peter "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri and Silvio Dante: "I'll build a ramp up to your ass, run a Lionel up in there."
Richie loaned money to Tony's childhood friend and gambler David Scatino and eventually cut him off when Scatino started to miss payments. Scatino managed to get a seat at Tony's high stakes executive game and when Richie found him there, he flew into a rage. Tony intervened because he could not lose face by allowing one of his players to be harmed and sent Richie away. Tony Soprano later punished Richie for his disruptive behavior at the executive game by saying that he is not allowed to collect a penny from David until his debt to Tony is retired, and Richie's debt is frozen until then, meaning no interest can be accrued. As Tony put it, "I'm going to get mine first, then you're going to get yours second." Richie feigned apologies. However, when driving home with Janice, she stokes Richie's temper by saying that Tony's tribute to him upon release from prison was merely ornamental.
After the game, Scatino was so heavily indebted to Tony and Richie that both men took over Scatino's sporting goods store, Ramsey Outdoor, in what became known as the "Scatino bust out".
Richie disliked Tony's protégé and made man Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti because of his sometimes violent relationship with Richie's niece Adriana La Cerva. This friction contributed to a failed attempt on Christopher's life by two young associates of the Soprano crew, Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte, hoping to impress Richie. Richie had nothing to do with planning the hit and refused to help Bevilaqua afterwards.
Richie sits at the table in Beansie's pizza parlor, waiting for his veal parm sandwich, as he starts planning his next move against Tony.
Not long after Richie left prison, he and Janice met again at a yoga class and soon resumed their old relationship. Richie was one of the few people who bothered with calling Janice by her new legal name "Parvati Wasatch" and the two generally found that their interests in yoga and medication aligned. It wasn't long before Richie moved in with Janice at her mother Livia's house and the two eventually became engaged. Janice frequently encouraged Richie to defy Tony, because she wanted to be married to the boss. One night, while having sex, which ended abruptly when Janice said "Oh baby, you're the boss... it should be you.", Richie became upset, and told Janice that he needed to be loyal. Janice's response was "Tell that to Paul Castellano," a reference to the real life slaying of the Gambino boss by John Gotti.
Richie acted as somewhat of a mentor to his nephew, Giacomo "Jackie" Aprile Jr. for a short time before his death; he brought him along to meetings to discuss Mafia business and would compare him in a favorable light to his son Rick Aprile, though it's made evident that Richie had little patience for Jackie's thoughtless blabbering during said meet-ups.
In the end, Richie was preparing, with the approval of Tony's uncle, Corrado "Junior" Soprano Jr., to take over the family as boss. Richie approached acting capo Albert "Allie Boy" Barese of the Barese crew to ask for his support in his takeover bid, but he declined. Albert was acting capo after his cousin Lawrence "Larry Boy" Barese was sent to federal prison on an indictment. After weighing his options, Junior realized he was better off with Tony in charge and tipped him off about Richie's plans. Tony then ordered Silvio Dante to have Richie killed, but this later proved to be unnecessary.
After returning home one night, Richie and Janice entered into an argument over Richie's son's possible homosexuality, a notion Janice both dismissed and defended. As soon as she did this however, Richie punched Janice in the face before settling down for dinner. Appearing in complete shock, Janice left the room, but quickly returned with a gun and shot Richie first in the chest, then in the head. A distraught Janice called her brother Tony who had DiMeo soldiers Christopher Moltisanti and Furio Giunta dispose of Richie's corpse by mutilating him at Satriale's Pork Store. It is likely that Richie's remains and the gun that Janice used to kill him was put in an acid to dispose any evidence. Tony then sent Janice off to back to Seattle to lie low for a while. Apart from Tony and Janice, only Christopher and Furio know what really happened to Richie. Carmela Soprano knows of Richie's death, but did not press Tony for the specifics. Everyone else has been told that he became an FBI informant and entered witness protection. Conversations with Silvio (in All Happy Families...) and Paulie (in Made in America) indicate that they also know of Richie's true fate. Later, during her involvement with them, the FBI heavily implied to Richie's niece Adriana that her uncle had not entered witness protection, regardless of what she had been led to believe.
After Death[]
- *In "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood," in the FBI headquarters, a photo of Richie Aprile with a caption underneath stating "Richie April Capo (M. I. A.)" was part of the FBI's DiMeo crime family tree. The agents briefly discuss Aprile's fate, assuming that the family must have disposed of him for challenging the reigning boss, unaware of the true circumstances of his death.
- In the Season 5 episode The Test Dream, Richie briefly appears in Tony's dream riding in the backseat of a car being driven by Arthur "Artie" Bucco. Sitting next to Richie is also the deceased, former Aprile crew capo Gianluigi "Gigi" Cestone.
Richie in "The Test Dream"
The Curse of Richie's Former Crew[]
The crew Richie forged was perceived as the most cursed out of all the Soprano factions, according to Paulie. Richie's younger brother, Jackie, had died from stomach cancer in 1998. Richie was murdered by Janice, by 2000. November of 2000, Cestone died of a heart attack, just as he had been appointed capo. Ralph Cifaretto was granted leadership of the crew for the next two years, until he fatally angered Tony Soprano by 2002. In 2006, Richie's nephew, Vito, was finished off on the orders of wrathful Lupertazzi boss, Phil Leotardo, for displaying homosexual tendencies. After Spatafore was killed, Tony Soprano would merge the Gervasi Crew with the remnants of the Aprile Crew under the leadership of capo Carlo Gervasi. Unfortunately, Carlo would soon flip to the FBI in order to aid his imprisoned son, rendering the crew's leadership vacant. Tony would then assign control of the crew to a reluctant Paulie, who combined it with his own crew.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 5 | ✔ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 6 |
- "Funhouse" (Mentioned only)
Season 3
- "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" (Mentioned/picture only)
- "Proshai, Livushka" (Mentioned only)
- "Fortunate Son" (Mentioned only)
- "Employee of the Month" (Mentioned only)
Season 4
- "No Show" (Mentioned only)
Trivia[]
Richie is played by actor David Proval who is of Jewish descent.
- Richie gives Tony a brown leather jacket, which Tony gives to his maid's husband. Richie later sees this and becomes annoyed that Tony didn't appreciate his gift.
- The brown leather jacket that Richie gives to Tony, is that of feared Essex County mobster Rocco DiMeo. Richie brags to Tony how he beat the reputed mobster in a fight years before.
- Following his release, Richie was often seen wearing aloha shirts. This is similar to Tony Blundetto and his Miami Vice suit, with both their choice of dress having been trendy in the 80s but going out of fashion during their incarceration.
- Showing a tender side of his character, Richie cooks a dish of tripe Italian-style, and takes it to Carmela as a thank-you gift.
- The memories of Richie, and his brother, Jackie, would continue to haunt Tony. Richie appeared in Tony's nightmare during "The Test Dream". While Jackie would appear in Tony's nightmare during "Isabella".
- ↑ Richie was born before at least 1954, since his younger brother Jackie was born in 1955 according to The Sopranos: A Family History. Richie was presumably not born in the 1940s since he was not a contemporary of Paulie Gualtieri or Silvio Dante, since they imposed seniority onto him during their meetings.