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Robert Funaro is an American actor who played Eugene Pontecorvo in The Sopranos and appeared in other films and TV shows. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has Italian ancestors from Naples.
Robert Funaro is an American actor of Italian descent, known for his roles in The Sopranos, The Irishman, Ray Donovan and more. IMDb provides his biography, filmography, photos, videos, contact info and more.
- January 1, 1
- 1 min
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Watch a full interview with Robert Funaro, an American actor who played Eugene Pontecorvo on The Sopranos and appeared in films like American Gangster and The Irishman. Learn about his career, his art, his cinema and more.
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- ThomasBerrymanTV
Robert Funaro is an American actor of Italian descent, best known for his roles in The Sopranos, The Irishman, and American Gangster. He started his career in theater with James Gandolfini and has appeared in many films and TV shows since then.
- January 23, 1959
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- History
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Eugene Pontecorvo, played by actor Robert Funaro, is a fictional character in the HBO television series The Sopranos. His jobs include running a low stakes poker game, a sports betting agency and a 'No Work' job at the Esplanade construction site.
BackstoryAs a child, Eugene grew up with and played CYO basketball with Tony Soprano. At some point, his father committed suicide, and he seemingly grew up close with his Aunt Edie, who was the only person who made him feel special.
Season 3Eugene Pontecorvo was introduced on the show as an associate in the Soprano crime family in the episode "Proshai, Livushka". Eugene subsequently becomes a made man in the following episode "Fortunate Son" along with Christopher Moltisanti. Like Vito Spatafore and Benny Fazio, he is initially introduced as a small character, whose role slowly increases throughout the series. His first act on the show is seen in "Proshai, Livushka" when he and Bobby Zanone assault a garbage sanitation man for threatening to rat out Ralph Cifaretto. Eugene also appears in a flashback to 1995 in the episode "...To Save Us All From Satan's Power" as a bodyguard at the Aprile Social Club, and opened the door for Junior Soprano, as well as Beppy Scerbo and Gigi Cestone. He, along with Vito Spatafore and Donny Kafranza, found Gigi Cestone dead on the toilet in their social club after suffering a constipation-induced heart attack.
Season 4Eugene reveals his mean streak once again in the episode "Eloise", when he and another associate engage in jury tampering, in which they are sent to intimidate a juror who is on Junior Soprano's trial. He does so by stalking the man, following him into a convenience store where the juror takes a drink and a candy bar. The juror is stopped by Eugene, who reveals he knows this man and is a juror and "I know you'll do the right thing" (implying he will vote not guilty and result in a hung jury). Eugene then tells the juror not to bother paying, as he then pays for the man's small purchase.
Season 5Although mild-mannered, Eugene has a tendency to lose his temper, similar to Ralph Cifaretto. In the episode "Unidentified Black Males", while he and Little Paulie Germani are engaging in what initially began as a harmless banter at the Esplanade construction site, Little Paulie goes too far in Eugene's mind when he conveys through an innuendo that Eugene is a homosexual. Eugene responds by smashing a glass Snapple bottle over Little Paulie's head, causing a severe gash over his eye, and kicks him repeatedly in the head. Vito instructs an overwrought Eugene to take the rest of the day off. When Eugene asks "What about him (Little Paulie)?", Vito responds with "What? I thought I saw a couple of n*ggers running that way." It's also a reference to the episode's title, "Unidentified Black Males".
Season 6In Season Six's premiere episode "Members Only", Eugene inherited 2 million dollars from his deceased aunt Edie. He begins developing serious stress with his home life due to his wife pushing him to talk Tony into their retiring to Florida with the money and also his son's incessant drug-use. He states to his friends that, "The only thing I ever found in the street was my first wife," showing that he hasn't had much good luck in his life (and at least one failed marriage). Eugene has a talk with Tony about him and his family moving to Florida permanently. Tony says he'll consider it, but he states Eugene took an oath indicating it's highly unlikely he'll approve. Christopher Moltisanti assigns Eugene the task of taking out a guy named Teddy Spirodakis in Boston who owed Christopher money and failed to pay him. Eugene is reluctant, but has to follow Christopher's order due to his rank of capo. Chris assures Eugene that he will put in a good word for him to Tony as a favor for doing the hit. Eugene drives to Boston and finds Teddy eating dinner at a fast food restaurant and shoots him repeatedly in the head. Eugene then walks out calmly.
It is revealed Eugene has been an informant for the F.B.I., though it is unclear for how long. After Raymond Curto dies of a massive stroke while giving potentially damaging information to Agent Robyn Sanseverino about Tony discussing a murder, the F.B.I. informs Eugene they also reject his notion to move to Florida, as they need him in New Jersey to help build a case against Tony in the wake of Curto's death.
Though he was present and had lines in the episode He is Risen (S03E08), actor Robert Funaro is not credited at the end of the episode.
Eugene Pontecorvo is a fictional character in the HBO series The Sopranos, played by actor Robert Funaro. He is a made man in the DiMeo crime family and an FBI informant who commits suicide in 2006.
Check out the full interview here: https://youtu.be/PY_xLdzSlQQMovieJunk is honored to welcome back Sopranos Alumni Robert Funaro who portrayed "Eugene Porte...
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Jan 13, 2024 · Robert Funaro, who played Eugene Pontecorvo on 'The Sopranos', attended a gala dinner with other cast members and creators in Little Italy. He praised the show's genius, James Gandolfini's friendship and the Italian-American casting.
