# Gyp Rosetti
**Gyp Rosetti** (full name Giuseppe Colombano Rosetti) is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the third season of the HBO television series *Boardwalk Empire*, played by [Bobby Cannavale](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-cannavale). He is a violent, easily offended Sicilian gangster who operates out of Tabor Heights, New Jersey, as an underboss of the New York crime family headed by [Joe Masseria](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-masseria), and he becomes the principal adversary of Atlantic City boss [Nucky Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/nucky-thompson) in the season's gang war.[1](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti) • [2](https://obsessiveviewer.com/2014/09/04/boardwalk-empire-season-3-in-review/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Giuseppe Colombano Rosetti, nicknamed "Gyp"[1](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti) |
| Portrayed by | Bobby Cannavale, who won the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role[3](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bobby-Cannavale/) |
| Role | Main antagonist of *Boardwalk Empire* season three[1](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti) |
| Affiliation | Sicilian gangster and underboss of the Masseria family from New York City[1](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti) |
| Base of operations | Tabor Heights, New Jersey, on the liquor route Nucky's convoys must travel[2](https://obsessiveviewer.com/2014/09/04/boardwalk-empire-season-3-in-review/) |
| Fictional status | Wholly fictional, unlike the series' many real-life gangster characters[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303129/trivia/?item=tr4192199) |
| Fate | Dies at the end of season three, betrayed by his own lieutenant Tonino[5](https://thewritingking.com/movies/boardwalk-empire-review/) • [6](https://www.tvguide.com/news/boardwalk-empire-postmortem-terence-winter-1057068/) |
## Character and role in the series
Rosetti is introduced in season three, which is set in 1923, as a hot-headed, easily offended gangster from New York City who works under Joe Masseria and begins a bloody gang war under Masseria's banner.[7](https://www.geschiedenisbeleven.nl/feit-en-fictie-in-dramaserie-boardwalk-empire/) • [8](https://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=158475) He sets up shop in nearby Tabor Heights, New Jersey, and his conflict with Nucky Thompson heats up as the season winds to a close.[2](https://obsessiveviewer.com/2014/09/04/boardwalk-empire-season-3-in-review/) While largely autonomous, he is dependent on Masseria and pays him a cut; after noticing his losses, Masseria almost has Gyp killed for being uncontrollable.[1](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti)
One retrospective assessment treats the character's defining trait as an inability to absorb an insult, in a business that runs entirely on absorbing them.[5](https://thewritingking.com/movies/boardwalk-empire-review/) In a smaller recurring detail, Gyp finds a copy of [Horatio Alger](https://www.edgepedia.org/horatio-alger)'s *Ragged Dick* while poking around Nucky's office, a book the series uses as a symbol of the self-made-man culture Nucky grew up in.[9](https://time.com/3536517/boardwalk-empire-finale-review/)
## Death
Rosetti dies at the end of season three.[5](https://thewritingking.com/movies/boardwalk-empire-review/) To end the war, Nucky promises control of the Old Overholt Distillery to [Arnold Rothstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/arnold-rothstein), who in turn convinces Masseria to pull his support of Rosetti.[6](https://www.tvguide.com/news/boardwalk-empire-postmortem-terence-winter-1057068/) Rosetti escapes his brothel headquarters without being killed by [Richard Harrow](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-harrow), but Nucky finds an ally in Rosetti's own lieutenant Tonino, whose cousin Gyp had violently beaten to death earlier in the season.[6](https://www.tvguide.com/news/boardwalk-empire-postmortem-terence-winter-1057068/)
## Fictional origin
Unlike [Al Capone](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-capone), Arnold Rothstein, and [Lucky Luciano](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucky-luciano), who appear in the series under their real names, Gyp Rosetti is a wholly fictional creation; IMDb's trivia for the series lists him, along with gangster Manny Horvitz and aviatrix Carrie Duncan, among the invented characters.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303129/trivia/?item=tr4192199) Series creator [Terence Winter](https://www.edgepedia.org/terence-winter) has explained that he was inspired to fictionalize as many people as possible by *Deadwood*, whose cast of real historical figures could be spoiled by a quick web search; whenever he felt he could fictionalize a character, he would, starting with Nucky Thompson.[10](https://www.wired.com/2012/09/tv-fact-checkers-boardwalk-empire/) Of Cannavale's casting, Winter said, "I think we had one conversation about who that character is and what motivated him, and Bobby got it immediately and ran with it and became Gyp Rosetti."[11](https://edgemagonline.com/issue-archives/2010/EDGE-Vol-5-Issue-4-web.pdf)
## Reception
Cannavale's performance earned critical acclaim and the 2013 [Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-award-for-outstanding-supporting-actor-in-a-drama-series).[3](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bobby-Cannavale/) Critical opinion of the character itself has been divided. A *Slant Magazine* review of the season called Rosetti "the loudest, loutest newcomer" on the show's dance card and compared his season-long dominance unfavorably to [George Hearst](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-hearst)'s arc on *Deadwood*.[12](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/boardwalk-empire-the-complete-third-season/) Time's retrospective review of the final season called season three, which pitted Nucky against the "cartoonish big bad" Gyp Rosetti, the show's worst.[13](https://time.com/3270034/review-boardwalk-empire-final-season/) Other commentators have ranked him as the best antagonist the show produced, a villain whose scenes built tension effectively.[5](https://thewritingking.com/movies/boardwalk-empire-review/) Time also noted that Cannavale brought the same committed physicality to his later role in HBO's *Vinyl* as he had in his "season-long arc as maniacal gangster Gyp Rosetti."[14](https://time.com/4217048/vinyl-mick-jagger-martin-scorcese/)
## References
1. [Gyp Rosetti, Boardwalk Empire Wiki (Fandom)](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Gyp_Rosetti)
2. [Boardwalk Empire Season 3 in Review, The Obsessive Viewer](https://obsessiveviewer.com/2014/09/04/boardwalk-empire-season-3-in-review/)
3. [Bobby Cannavale, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bobby-Cannavale/)
4. ["Boardwalk Empire" Resolution (TV Episode 2012) Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303129/trivia/?item=tr4192199)
5. [Boardwalk Empire: Stop After Season Three, The Writing King](https://thewritingking.com/movies/boardwalk-empire-review/)
6. [Boardwalk Empire Postmortem: So, What Kind of Gangster Is Nucky Now?, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/boardwalk-empire-postmortem-terence-winter-1057068/)
7. [Feit en fictie in dramaserie Boardwalk Empire, Geschiedenis Beleven](https://www.geschiedenisbeleven.nl/feit-en-fictie-in-dramaserie-boardwalk-empire/)
8. [Academic discussion of Boardwalk Empire season three, arno.uvt.nl](https://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=158475)
9. [REVIEW: Boardwalk Empire Watch: Golden Boy, Time](https://time.com/3536517/boardwalk-empire-finale-review/)
10. [TV Fact-Checkers: Ginning Up Boardwalk Empire's Boozy Gangster Paradise, Wired](https://www.wired.com/2012/09/tv-fact-checkers-boardwalk-empire/)
11. [EDGE interview with Terence Winter, EDGE Magazine Vol. 5 Issue 4](https://edgemagonline.com/issue-archives/2010/EDGE-Vol-5-Issue-4-web.pdf)
12. [Blu-ray Review: Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/boardwalk-empire-the-complete-third-season/)
13. [REVIEW: Boardwalk vs. Empire, Time](https://time.com/3270034/review-boardwalk-empire-final-season/)
14. [Review: Vinyl Seeks Rock's Holy Grail, Time](https://time.com/4217048/vinyl-mick-jagger-martin-scorcese/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Crime, criminology, and criminal justice policy › Crime in media and culture › Organized crime in popular culture*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license