Sal, like so many men of his generation, went off to fight in World War II and came backed changed forever because of the horrors he saw. Also like his peers, he keeps those horrors bottled up inside, trying to spare his wife and family what he had seen and experienced. But a crisis that […]

She brought light back into his world and so he is devoted to her. She in turn loves him passionately because he is a kind and gentle man who can live with her foibles which sometimes drive her brothers and sisters a bit batty.

Stella (portrayed by Liz Lauren), Sonny’s wife, is an outsider in a world of Italian-Americans. She grew up in an orphanage in Pennsylvania with one sister. In search of  a better life, she came to New York as a young woman to live on her own during the depths of the Great Depression. With jobs […]

Julianna’s Irish boyfriend, Bill (portrayed by Jeff Watkins) grew up in the exclusive Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn,a world away from the hard-scrabble Italian neighborhood he now finds himself about to visit with Julianna. His father had been a long-time Naval officer before starting his civilian law career, so Bill came from a professional family, […]

Julianna (portrayed by Olivia Cinquepalmi) is the youngest of the Smaldone sisters and brothers, the family baby who came along long after momma and poppa thought they were done growing their already large family. She represents another generation from most of her siblings, having been only a child during the Great Depression and a young […]