Films have produced countless iconic gangsters, but when it comes to fleshing out their lives, the small-screen has fitted the big-screen for concrete shoes. In the last decade and a half, series like Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, and Justified have given viewers a new, more complete look at organized crime than short-running flicks ever could.
The rogues gallery of great television gangsters is growing every week. Bobby Cannavale's hot-headed, grudge-holding Gyp Rosetti on Boardwalk Empire, Harold Perrineau's vengeful grieving father Damon Pope on Sons of Anarchy, and William Forsythe's debt-wielding Constantine Alexander on The Mob Doctor are muscling out other characters and absolutely stealing their shows. Only time will tell where they rank amongst the best of all time, but our bet is that, in coming years, some of the G's featured in our countdown of The 25 Most Badass Gangsters in TV History will have to take it to the mattresses to fight them off.
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Written by Jason Serafino (@serafinoj1)