Sopranos Actor’s Suicide

Actor, John Costelloe, who played Jim Witkowski (a/k/a Johnny Cakes on the Sopranos), reportedly committed suicide on December 16th. According to the NY Post, the front door to his home was still sealed with police stickers yesterday, more than a week after he was found, the apparent victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

In 4 episodes of The Sopranos, John played a short-order cook and volunteer fireman who gay mobster on-the-run, Vito Spatafore, took up with in New Hampshire. The nickname in the hit series came from a recommendation Costelloe’s character, Jim, made to Vito – a type of pancake known as “johnnycakes” made from corn meal instead of flour, and “Johnny Cakes” also was the name of one of the episodes.

Actor Joseph Gannascoli, who played Spatafore, was a longtime friend of Costelloe’s in real life. “I was shocked when I heard, and it still hasn’t really sunk in,” Gannascoli told the Post. “I never detected anything troubling about him. I enjoyed all the time I ever spent with him.”

Costelloe worked 11 years at Ladder Cos. 109 and 110 in Brooklyn before retiring in 1998. He already had begun appearing in films in 1989, often being cast in the role of a cop.

At the time of his death, Costelloe was appearing in an off-off Broadway ensemble play “Gang of Seven.” Playwrite Jim Neu said he wrote the part of a fast-talking hustler specifically for John, and the play was getting great reviews.

A funeral Mass for the 47 year old actor was attended by his family and friends at St. Michael’s Church in Sunset Park. Sopranos actors Steve Buscemi and Gannascoli attended the wake and funeral.

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Tags: HBO, jim, john, joseph, steve, vito