Steven Van Zandt (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician and actor, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He is also known for his roles on television dramas such as Silvio Dante on The Sopranos (1999-2007) and Frank Tagliano / Giovanni "Johnny" Henriksen on Lilyhammer (2012-2014). Van Zandt also has had his own solo band called Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, active on and off since the 1980s.

Steven Van Zandt was born on November 22, 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born as Steven Lento and is of Southern Italian descent (his grandfather was from Calabria and his grandmother's parents were Neapolitans). He lived at 16 Edgecliff Road in Watertown, Massachusetts.  His mother, Mary Lento, remarried in 1957 and he took the last name of his stepfather, William Brewster Van Zandt. The family moved from Massachusetts to Middletown Township, New Jersey, when he was seven.  Van Zandt found his love for music at an early age, when he learned how to play the guitar. He watched the performances of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and Rolling Stones on Hollywood Palace in 1964 and referred to the former as "The Big Bang of Rock n' Roll". He said that when he was 13, George Harrison was his favorite Beatle, but he is now friends with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Around August 1964, he formed his first band, the Whirlwinds, which was short lived. He later formed the Mates in 1965 and joined the Shadows in May 1966. Van Zandt has cited British Invasion bands such as the Dave Clark Five, as well as Ravi Shankar and the culture of India as early influences.  Van Zandt attended Middletown High School, where he got kicked out for having long hair. He went back to school to make his mother happy and graduated in 1968.  Actor/playwright/producer Billy Van Zandt is Steven Van Zandt's half-brother, making actress Adrienne Barbeau his sister-in-law. He also has a half-sister named Kathi who is a writer.

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