Christopher Moltisanti - Biography

Biography

Christopher Moltisanti was born on an unspecified date in 1966 or 1967 to Richard "Dickie" Moltisanti (their surname is Italian for "Many Saints" - David Chase frequently gives Sopranos characters ironic or symbolic names), a soldier in the Soprano crew of the DiMeo Crime Family, and Joanne Blundetto. Chris was a first cousin once removed to Carmela Soprano and a second cousin to Meadow Soprano and Anthony Soprano, Jr. Tony Soprano affectionately considered Christopher a nephew (they had a cousin in common growing up; see below), and had looked out for him over the years, as Christopher never had a father figure growing up (his actual father, Dickie, was killed when Christopher was very young). Moltisanti was engaged to Adriana La Cerva before her murder.

Moltisanti was very loyal to his uncle — whom he once called "the man I'm going to hell for" — and Soprano trusted him more than anyone else in the organization. Tony often entrusted Christopher with sensitive jobs, including disposing of the bodies of capos Richie Aprile and Ralph Cifaretto. Moltisanti acted as Tony's mouthpiece, issuing Tony's orders in order to insulate Tony from potential racketeering charges. Tony was planning on making Moltisanti his successor.

Moltisanti had his share of problems; he was prone to violent and impulsive behavior, and he had been distracted, at times, by lofty pursuits such as screenwriting. Some members of the crime family appeared to be jealous of Christopher's closeness to his uncle. In particular, his fast ascent had led to friction with fellow mobsters Silvio Dante, Patsy Parisi and Paulie Gualtieri. He also had problems with substance abuse, eventually becoming addicted to heroin and alcohol, and being forced into rehab by his family (particularly his uncle), friends, and his fiancee, Adriana.

Moltisanti's substance abuse was likely a result of nature as well as nurture. On the nature side, Christopher - like his gambling addict cousin Tony Blundetto - likely inherited his addictive personality; Christopher's mother Joanne was shown to be an alcoholic and his father, Dickie, had been drug-addicted. On the nurture side, Christopher regularly associated with people who sold drugs (such as Uncle Junior and Mikey Palmice), who abused drugs (such as Brendan Filone and Ralph Cifaretto), and who used a variety of methods of self-medication and escapism (such as Tony Soprano's gluttony and Janice Soprano's flirtations with various religions).

Christopher abetted others' drug use, as well. For example, he provided Tony's daughter with speed, when she requested some in order to study for an exam. (His rationale was that if he refused, Meadow would go elsewhere to a less reputable dealer and possibly receive harmfully adulterated drugs or be raped and murdered.) His drug use inspired Adriana to experiment with heroin, and - in the course of confronting Adriana about her and Tony's activities the night they crashed Tony's SUV - Christopher alluded to financing Adriana's drug use. Later, after marrying Kelli Lombardo, Christopher and fellow twelve-step program participant Julianna Skiff began an affair that reignited both addicts' heroin use.

Moltisanti frequently wore FILA tracksuits and tank tops, and he had a penchant for pop culture (to which his frequent references engendered ribbing from the other north Jersey mobsters), and for having affairs, behind Adriana's back, with good-looking women of dubious repute. Some such women were prostitutes who, Chris told Paulie, Chris didn't have to pay; others were strippers (such as Sonya Aragon in Las Vegas) and even white-collar professionals (such as Julianna Skiff). Chris also loved expensive cars, having owned a Lexus LS400, Mercedes CLK 430, Land Rover Range Rover, Hummer H2, John Sacrimoni's Maserati Coupé (which "Sack" sold after he was arrested), and the 2007 Cadillac Escalade EXT, which he purchased after the Maserati was seized by the government and which he fatally crashed.

Christopher's catchphrase on the show was, "I'm sorry, T!" ("T" being shorthand for Tony.) He was notorious for frequently being late to meetings, irresponsible in his business dealings, and generally less "together" in his affairs than the rest of Tony's crew, due to his chronic drug and alcohol abuse, and so was constantly in the position of having to apologize to his uncle and boss for his shortcomings. Christopher committed the first killing of the whole series by shooting Emil Kolar. Christopher was occasionally haunted in dreams by Kolar's "ghost".