A shining ensemble player in two of the finest Mafioso titles of all time, “Goodfellas” (1990) and “The Sopranos” (HBO, 1999-2007), Lorraine Bracco’s husky laugh and self-reliant spirit gave a sorely-needed shot in the arm to a genre used to portraying Italian-American women as overbearing mothers and gum-snapping girlfriends. The Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress also defied Hollywood conventions by reaching her greatest career achievements close to the age of 50, when roles for fully-realized, complex, female characters like Jennifer Melfi from “The Sopranos” were scarce. Bracco racked
