Mob Wives star Angela ‘Big Ang’ Raiola dies aged 55

ANGELA “Big Ang” Raiola, the raspy-voiced star of reality show Mob Wives, has died, nearly a year after being diagnosed with throat cancer. She was 55.

ATTENTION EDITORS - CAPTION CLARIFICATION: It was reported that Big Ang passed away, but her Twitter account has posted a statement that she is still in the hospital. NEW YORK, NY - MAY 28: Angela "Big Ang" Raiola attends OK! Magazine's "So Sexy" NY party at Marquee on May 28, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images)

ANGELA “Big Ang” Raiola, the raspy-voiced bar owner who gained fame on the reality TV series Mob Wives, has died, nearly a year after being diagnosed with throat cancer. She was 55.

Raiola died at a New York City hospital while surrounded by friends and family, said series producer Jennifer Graziano.

Hit Show ... Big Ang, second from left, with the cast of Mob Wives. Picture: Supplied

A statement posted from Raiola’s Twitter account said she had “peacefully ended her battle with cancer.” “YOU (Her fans) were some of the most special people in her world, and she loved you immensely,” said the statement. “Thank you for your love, prayers, and unconditional support of Angela right to the end.” Raiola was initially diagnosed in March 2015 with throat cancer that spread to her brain and lung.

Even as she fought the disease, the native New Yorker remained the candid, colourful figure that viewers came to know on Mob Wives and her two sequels.

“You can call me Angela. I’ll call you handsome,” she told TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz during a pre-taped appearance that aired on his Dr. Oz show just earlier this week.

Earlier this week ... Dr. Mehmet Oz, left, comforts Angela "Big Ang" Raiola during a taping of The Dr. Oz Show, in New York. Picture: AP

Raiola, nicknamed Big Ang for her nearly 6-foot height, told Oz she was trying to keep her spirits up as chemotherapy and radiation failed to check the disease. She had already undergone several surgeries, and her trademark flowing black hair was gone, replaced by a short, blond cut.

“I look at my kids and my grandchildren and I know how much they need me,” said Raiola, who lived with her daughter Raquel’s family on New York’s Staten Island, where Raiola ran the Drunken Monkey bar.

She wasn’t technically a mob wife: Raiola’s inclusion on the cable show’s second season in 2012 came courtesy of her uncle, the late Salvatore “Sally Dogs” Lombardi, a reputed captain of the Genovese crime family.

Raiola, known as a peacemaker when other cast members clashed, proved a standout. She starred in the spin-off Big Ang and its retooled version, Miami Monkey, although both were short-lived. Family members including her son, Anthony, and her sister, Janine, were among those who joined in her TV fame.

A cigarette smoker for 40 years, Raiola said she stopped immediately after her first cancer diagnosis last year. Her doctors told her the disease was “positively” caused by smoking, she said, and she called for people to quit the habit or resist picking it up.

Her sister and brother-in-law were key members of her support team, Raiola told Oz, but she said her husband, Neil Murphy, was no longer part of her life.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Split ... Angela “Big Ang” Raiola and estranged husband Neil Murphy. Picture: Supplied