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"Silvio owns the Bada Bing strip club on route 17, a major gathering place and front for the Soprano operations. He is married to Gabriella Dante and has one daughter, Heather. She's very athletic, soccer star, mediocre student. She thinks the topless business is "disgusting." She doesn't know the half of it." |
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Dante is the son of Joseph "Beppy" Dante, a mob soldier gunned down in 1959. Silvio's ambition, like many Italian Romeos of that era, was to be the next Frank Sinatra. He didn't have the talent so he went into another branch of show business- topless dancing.
Dante fancies himself as a player in the world of entertainment, having owned many clubs in Asbury Park. He dresses carefully, has an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, and is always on the lookout for fresh, young talent that he can "nurture." He moves young girls from his strip club into the showrooms (or backrooms) of Atlantic City and Las Vegas and takes a big cut of their income.
His role in the crime family seems to be bookmaking, collecting loan shark receipts, and helping Tony negotiate deals and mediate disputes. He is very engaging and gets along with everyone. He has excellent people skills, a valuable asset in an age of multi-ethnic organized crime.
He believes his own press. In many ways, the man's delusional. His pretensions of class are a defense against low self-esteem. But he will never flip on Tony. He's loyal to the core.
UPDATE:
Dante's loyalty to Soprano appears to remain strong, which could put him at odds with anyone who might have misgivings about the Boss' leadership.
An excellent example of the above-mentioned people skills: last year, while some other wise guys were disrupting a protest of Columbus Day staged by the New Jersey Council of Indian Affairs, Dante was spotted at the blackjack table of a Mohonk casino. No doubt Dante is as proud of his Italian roots as any of them - but he keeps his eyes on the prize.
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Mob Facts
In his book Underboss, convicted hit man Sammy "The Bull" Gravano claims that his Gambino colleagues were obsessed with the Godfather films, and that many of the mob's customs were taken from the movies.
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