The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli has told of his shock at learning he is related to a real-life New York gangster.

The actor, who played trigger-happy Christopher Moltisanti in the hit mob TV drama, learned organised crime is in his family tree on a new episode of US celebrity genealogy series Finding Your Roots.

Michael's maternal great-grandfather Raffael Raea bought and sold illicit booze during America's Prohibition era, and even opened his own illegal drinking den, the programme revealed.

A 1923 newspaper article details how a small fire in the New York block where Raea lived turned into a raging inferno after igniting hundreds of cases of liquor he was hiding in the basement.

Raea's sister-in-law was indicted around the same time for serving whisky to a federal agent, but her fate remains unknown.

Goodfellas star Michael, 58, whose ancestors emigrated to America from Sicily and Lazio in Italy, said: "Now what I'm really curious about is how much my mother knows about this stuff.

"Did she know any of this? I never heard these stories."

Michael, who recently opened an NYC bar called Scarlet, described as having a "Speakeasy ambience", added: "It's uncanny to think we opened up before I even knew a family member lived the real deal."