If the mafia gave out a Mr. Congeniality Award, Ralph Cifaretto
would never be in contention for it. Mr. Obnoxious, however, would
be his in a walk. Sarcastic, belligerent and misogynistic - even by
wise guy standards - Ralph was easily Tony's least favorite
business associate. Despite being a very smart man (albeit one who
dropped out of school in the eleventh grade), Ralph was prone to
making grossly inappropriate comments at the worst possible moment.
When a young associate was in a coma, Ralph commented to the guy's
brother, "Look at the bright side - he wasn't that smart to begin
with."
Ralph was installed as the captain of the late Gigi Cestone's
crew. Ralph was pleased; the captaincy was something he had wanted
for a long time. Tony warned him, "be careful what you wish for,"
but hey, what does he know?
Plenty, it turns out. Ralph hadn't been captain for long when he
was faced with his first major crisis. Jackie Aprile, Jr. robbed a
card game, killing the dealer and shooting Furio in the leg. Once a
made man had been shot, Jackie's fate was sealed; but Tony told
Ralph that, as captain of the crew that had been hit, the final
decision was his. For once, Ralph - who was dating Jackie's mother,
Rosalie, and had developed a relationship with Jackie as well -
didn't have anything funny to say. He ordered the hit on Jackie,
and then took Rosalie to his funeral.
For a brief time, Ralph and Tony actually got along with each
other, sort of. Ralph purchased a racehorse named Pie-O-My and
Tony, always fond of animals, took a shine to the filly. But when
Ralph was in sudden need of a large sum of cash - his 12-year old
son had been gravely injured in an archery accident - the highly
insured racehorse died in a suspicious stable fire. Tony, furious,
confronted Ralph and accused him of ordering Pie-O-My's death
Last Known Whereabouts: With his horse Pie O' My
Congrats to
hedge777 for the FTF