Dominic Chianese as Vic Volberg
Dominic Chianese joins former Soprano’s castmate, Steven Schirripa, on “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
The 80-year-old actor first appeared in “Secret Life: Young at Heart” as Grant’s elderly father, Vic Volberg, who was a popular sportscaster. The episode was named after the song Chianese’s character sings to his son and his girlfriend, Grant (Grant Harvey) and Grace (Megan Park).
Chianese played Junior Soprano on the long-running HBO series (1999-2007), who thought he was the head of the New Jersey crime family boss but his nephew, Tony, was the real big cheese. Schirripa played his babysitter of sorts, Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri, who later married Tony’s sister. “Uncle Jun” ended up in a nursing home and Bobby was killed by the New York mob. Schirripa plays the Sausage King, Leo Boykewich, on “Secret Life.”
In addition to being an actor, Chianese is a singer and musician. They also made good use of Dominic Chianese’s vocal talents on “The Sopranos”
Another famous mob role Chianese portrayed was as Johnny Ola, who gets Fredo in big big trouble, in “The Godfather (Part II).”
Chianese made his latest appearance in “Secret Life: Round II,” counseling Grace on her fallout with his son.