BREAKING NEWS:

June 19, 2013

James Gandolfini, the actor who most famously portrayed Tony Soprano on the series "The Sopranos," has died in Italy at age 51, according to HBO, which broadcast "The Sopranos."

Gandolfini also has a long list of credits as a film actor in character and supporting roles.

Gandolini died reportedly of a heart attack.

He won three Emmy awards for his performance on the HBO series 'The Sopranos'.

OMG! At 51? That is so young.

Too sad. I'm in shock. I feel like crying. Terrible news. I never missed a single episode of The Sopranos.

Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/arts/television/james-gandolfini-sopranos-star-dies-at-51.html)

James Gandolfini, the Emmy Award-winning actor who shot to fame on the HBO drama “The Sopranos” as Tony Soprano, a tough-talking, hard-living crime boss with a stolid exterior but a rich interior life, died on Wednesday. He was 51 years old.

Mr. Gandolfini’s death was confirmed by HBO. He was traveling in Rome, where he was on vacation and was scheduled to attend the Taormina Film Festival. A cause of death was not immediately announced; a press representative for HBO said that Mr. Gandolfini may have died from a heart attack, though other news reports said he died from a stroke.

Mr. Gandolfini, who grew up in Park Ridge, in Bergen County, N.J., came to embody the resilience of the Garden State on “The Sopranos,” a television drama that made its debut in 1999 and ran for six seasons on HBO.

In its pilot episode, viewers were introduced to the richly complicated life of Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mob kingpin who is suffering from panic attacks and begins seeing a therapist. Over 86 episodes, audiences followed Mr. Gandolfini in the role as he was tormented by his mother (played by Nancy Marchand), his wife (Edie Falco), rival mobsters, the occasional surreal dream sequence and, in 2007, a famously ambiguous series finale which left millions of viewers wondering whether or not Tony Soprano had met his fate at the table of a diner.

The success of “The Sopranos” helped make HBO a dominant player in the competitive field of scripted television programming, and transformed Mr. Gandolfini from a character actor into a star. The series, created by David Chase, won two Emmy Awards for outstanding drama series, and Mr. Gandolfini won three Emmys for outstanding lead actor in a drama, having been nominated six times for the award.

HBO said of Mr. Gandolfini in a statement on Wednesday, “He was special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect.”

James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. was born in Westwood, N.J., on Sept. 18, 1961. His father was an Italian immigrant who held a number of jobs, including janitor, bricklayer and cement mason. His mother, Santa, was a high school lunch lady.

He attended Park Ridge High School in New Jersey and Rutgers University, graduating in 1983 with a degree in communications. He drove a delivery truck, managed nightclubs and tended bar in Manhattan before becoming interested in acting at age 25 when a friend brought him to an acting class.

He began his movie career in 1987 with a small role in the low-budget horror comedy “Shock! Shock! Shock!” In 1992 he had a small part in the Broadway revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” starring Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange.

By the mid-1990s Mr. Gandolfini had made gangster roles a specialty, playing burly but strangely charming tough guys in films like “True Romance” (1993) and “The Juror” (1996). He had an impressive list of character-acting credits but he was largely unknown to the general public when David Chase cast him in “The Sopranos” in 1999.

“I thought it was a wonderful script,” Mr. Gandolfini told Newsweek in 2001, recalling his audition. “I thought, ‘I can do this.’ But I thought they would hire someone a little more debonair, shall we say. A little more appealing to the eye.”

Survivors include his wife, Deborah Lin; a daughter, Liliana, born last year; and a teenage son, Michael, from his marriage to Marcella Wudarski, which ended in divorce.

Wow. I'm shocked. :(

very shocking news - he was so good in the Sopranos

:rip:

I was shocked to read that tonight. :(

I guess we can definitely forget about a "Sopranos" film now.

Very shocking, sad news... :(

RIP James:(

I'm probably the only person on the planet who hasn't seen The Sopranos, but I've been a fan of Mr. Gandolfini's other projects for years. He was far to young to die and far too young to leave a teenager and an infant fatherless. Sad for all around.

I'm probably the only person on the planet who hasn't seen The Sopranos
You're not the only one. I've never seen an episode of the Sopranos, but I have seen clips, and I think the show is pure trash. It's vulgar, dumbed down, brain-dead crap for the Jersey shore crowd. I hate it.

:rip: James Ganolfini. It's scary having someone this close to my age (I'll be 49 this year) die.

You're not the only one. I've never seen an episode of the Sopranos, but I have seen clips, and I think the show is pure trash. It's vulgar, dumbed down, brain-dead crap for the Jersey shore crowd. I hate it.
Way to go Roger. Not a kind word for the deceased, and a disgusting insult for its audience who are feeling kinda lousy right now. Since you have nothing nice to say, stay out of this thread.

The Sopranos isn't my type of show, with the violence and language; however, it still has my respect due to its enormous popularity, numerous Emmys and other awards. James Gandolfini was a brilliant actor who died way before his time.

My prayers are extended to his family and friends. I'm sure they're heartbroken beyond words right now.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/edie-falco-james-gandolfini-death-man-tremendous-depth-sensitivity-article-1.1377888?localLinksEnabled=false


James Gandolfini dead at 51: Family friends Gilles and Carole Marini say late 'Sopranos' star seemed in good health

The 'Dancing with the Stars' vet spent time at graduation party with his friend and saw no signs of Gandolfini's impending heart attack.

By Casey Tolan , Nancy Dillon AND Larry Mcshane / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, June 20, 2013, 11:36 AM
Updated: Thursday, June 20, 2013, 6:47 PM

A happy and seemingly healthy James Gandolfini spoke excitedly about his upcoming father-son vacation just five days before his death inside a Rome hotel room.

The Emmy-winning star of “The Sopranos” was stoked last Friday at an eighth-grade graduation party for his 13-year-old son Michael, said family friend Carole Marini.




Gandolfini “was amazing as usual,” Marini told the Daily News. “He seemed very healthy to me — walking around, laughing, smiling, showing his little baby girl to everybody.


“There was no sign of trouble,” added Marini, wife of “Dancing with the Stars” veteran Gilles Marini. “For us, it was a shock.”
Actor Gilles Marini (left) and his wife Carole, close friends of Gandolfini’s, had dinner with the actor several days before his death and said the ‘Sopranos’ star seemed healthy.



After Gandolfini’s son found his dad in their room, doctors waged a desperate 40-minute battle to revive the hulking “Sopranos” star before declaring him dead.

The extraordinary Wednesday night effort by medical teams in the ambulance and emergency room included heart massage — but couldn’t save the 51-year-old Gandolfini’s life.



“The patient was considered dead on arrival,” said Dr. Claudio Modini, the emergency room chief.

An autopsy was planned to determine if the 260-pound actor’s bulk or hard-partying past played any role in his sudden demise, as members of his HBO friends continued to lavish praise on Gandolfini’s life and work.


Edie Falco, who played Tony Soprano’s suburban housewife/mob enabler Carmela, said the Garden State gangster couple was the Romeo and Juliet of organized crime.



“The love between Tony and Carmela was one of the greatest I’ve ever known,” she said in a statement. “My heart goes out to his family, as those of us in his pretend one hold on to the memories of our intense and beautiful time together.”

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who played daughter Meadow Soprano on the acclaimed HBO show, sent her best wishes to Gandolfini’s widow and two kids.

“This news has left me heartbroken,” she said. “I spent 10 years of my life studying and admiring one of the most brilliant actors, yes, but importantly one of the greatest men.



'I consider myself lucky to have spent 10 years as his close colleague,' said Falco of her co-star James Gandolfini, seen here with their Emmys for best actor and actress in a drama series at the 55th annual Emmy Award show in 2003.



“I treasure my memories with him and feel so honored that I was an up-close witness to his greatness.”

Bruce Springsteen, whose E Street Band includes Gandolfini’s TV consigliere Steve Van Zandt, played his classic “Born to Run” album in its entirety in the late actor’s memory at a show in Conventry, England.

In Rome, a family friend provided more details about the shocking Wednesday night death that rocked fans from Mahwah to Milan.


Says Katherine Narducci, who played Charmaine Bucco, 'I can tell you he was the most generous person in the world.'



Gandolfini, after suffering an apparent heart attack, was discovered inside his hotel room — apparently by his high school-bound son.

There was no immediate word on plans for a wake or funeral, and U.S. Embassy officials said it could take up to a week for the return of Gandolfini’s body to the United States.

Gandolfini, the son of Italian immigrants, was in Rome on a working vacation. He was scheduled to appear at the Taormina Film Festival, where Gandolfini was slated to receive a special prize and appear at the closing ceremony with Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei.



A special tribute was planned instead to honor Gandolfini, according to festival organizers.

Patricia Arquette — seen with Gandolfini in the film True Romance — said 'James was incredibly talented and I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to work with him. ... His work as Tony Soprano was flawless.'


“I felt like somebody kicked me in the stomach,” said Katherine Narducci, who played Charmaine Bucco on the HBO hit series. “I can tell you he was the most generous person in the world ... I can’t believe that he’s gone.”

Narducci said she said last saw Gandolfini at Madison Square Garden for a concert raising funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy.



Gandolfini left behind his wife, Deborah, and two kids: Michael and infant daughter Liliana.

“He was such a beautiful father,” said Narducci. “He loved his kids so much — it was obvious. ... He was just a really loving, loving, loving wonderful guy.”
A young Tony Soprano from the 1999 first season of “The Sopranos,” James Gandolfini brought a powerful complexity to the role of mob boss.



Patricia Arquette, who starred opposite Gandolfini in the pre-“Sopranos” film “True Romance,” heaped similar praise on the lost star.



Gandolfini’s Tribeca neighbors recalled him as a regular guy who was quick with a hand or a hello.

“He did a lot of great things for a lot of people,” said Michael Collarone, owner of a local restaurant where Gandolfini often ate breakfast. “He was an everyday person. He was a great man. I’m heartbroken.”

Michelle Luhan Nordberg, 45, recalled Gandolfini inviting the residents of their building to parties at his place.

“He was a really nice guy, a very sweet man,” said dietician Nordberg. “In spite of his big size, and despite the characters he played, he was really a big teddy bear.”

So very sad to hear of his death, may he rest in peace.

I heard on the news that it was confirmed that he had suffered a heart attack. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, children, and the rest of his loved ones. :rip:

Very sad to hear of his untimely passing. My condolences to his family and fans.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/06/22/gandolfini-was-the-marlon-brando-of-tv/

Just as Brando changed movie acting in the '50s, Gandolfini transformed TV acting in the '00s.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#T8UEU5W6wl6KBldu.99

I was very sad to hear about this. He was only one day younger than my mom, far too young to go. RIP Mr. Gandolfini.

James Gandolfini: His 10 Most Intense Scenes (http://whatculture.com/tv/james-gandolfini-his-10-most-intense-scenes.php)

James Gandolfini: His 10 Best Roles (http://whatculture.com/film/james-gandolfini-his-10-best-roles.php)

Over 1,500 friends, family and fans paid tribute to James Gandolfini at the late actor’s funeral in New York on Thursday. Below is “The Sopranos” creator David Chase’s eulogy, which he wrote as a letter to the Emmy-winning TV star.

Dear Jim,

Your family asked me to speak at this service. I am so honored and touched. I’m also really scared, and I say that because you, of all people, understand this. I would like to run away and then call you four days from now from the beauty parlor. [Ed. note: That's a reference to a 2002 incident in which Gandolfini disappeared from the set of The Sopranos, eventually calling the show's production office four days later from a beauty salon in Brooklyn.]

I want to do a good job because I love you, and because you always did a good job.

I think the deal is, I’m supposed to speak about the actor, the artist, the work part of your life. Others will have spoken beautifully about the other beautiful and magnificent parts of you — father, brother, friend. That’s what I was told. I’m supposed to also speak for your cast mates, who you loved; for your crew that you loved so much; the people at HBO; and Journey. I hope I can speak for all of them and pay credit to them and to you.

Experts told me to start with a joke, recite a funny anecdote. Ha ha ha. But as you yourself so often said, “I’m not feelin’ it.” I’m too sad and full of despair. I’m running too partly because I would like to have had your advice, because I remember how you did speeches. I saw you do a lot of them at awards shows and stuff, and invariably, I think you would scratch two or three thoughts on a sheet of paper and put it in your pocket, and then not really refer to it. And consequently, a lot of your speeches didn’t make sense.

I think that could happen here. Except in your case, it didn’t matter if it didn’t make sense because the feeling was real. The feeling was real. The feeling was real. I can’t say that enough.

I tried to write a traditional eulogy, but it came out like bad TV. So I’m writing you this letter and I’m hoping it’s better. But it is being done to and for an audience, so we’ll give the funny opening a try. I hope it is funny. It is to me; I know it is to you.

One day toward the end of the show, fourth season — four or five — we were on the set shooting a scene with you and Steven Van Zandt. I think the setup was that Tony had received news of the death of someone and it was inconvenient for him. And it said, “Tony opens the [refrigerator] door angrily, and Tony starts to speak.” And the cameras rolled, and you opened the refrigerator door, and you slammed it really hard. You slammed it hard enough that it came open again. And so then you slammed it again, and it came open again. You kept slamming it, and slamming it, and slamming it, and slamming it. You went ape**** on that refrigerator.

And the funny part for me was, I remember Steven Van Zandt — because the cameras were going, and we had to play this whole scene with the refrigerator door open. And I remember Steven Van Zandt staying there, standing, and trying to figure out, “Well, what should I do first as Silvio? Because he just ruined my refrigerator.” And also as Steven the actor, because we were going to play a scene with the refrigerator door open; people don’t do that. And I remember him going, sort of trying to tinker with the door, fix the door.

And so we finally had to call “cut,” and we had to fix the refrigerator door — and it never really worked, because the gaffer tape showed, we couldn’t get a new refrigerator, and it was a problem all day long. I remember you saying, “This role, this role. The places it takes me to, the things I have to do. It’s so dark.” And I remember saying to you, “Did I tell you to destroy the refrigerator? Did it say anywhere in the script, ‘Tony destroys a refrigerator’? It says ‘Tony angrily shuts the refrigerator door.’ That’s what it says. You destroyed the refrigerator.”

Another memory that comes to mind is, very early on — might have been the pilot — we were shooting in that really hot summer, humid New Jersey heat. And I looked over and you were sitting in an aluminum beach chair, with your slacks rolled up to your knees, and black socks, black shoes. And a damp, wet handkerchief on your head. And I remember looking over there and going, “Well, that’s really not a cool look.”

I was filled with love, and I knew then that I was in the right place. Because I said, “Wow, I haven’t seen that done since my father used to do it, and my Italian uncles used to do it, and my Italian grandfather used to do it. They were laborers in the same hot sun in New Jersey, and they were stonemasons — your father, I know, worked with concrete. I don’t know what it is with Italians and cement.

I was so proud of our heritage. [His voice breaks.] It made me so proud of our heritage, seeing you do that. I said before that you were my brother. This has a lot to do with that. Italian-American, Italian worker, builder, the Jersey thing. The same social class. I really feel, even though I’m a lot older than you, I’ve always felt that we are brothers, hardly from another mother. It was really based on that day. I was filled with so much love for everything that we were doing, that we were about to embark on.

I also feel you’re my brother in that we had different tastes, but the things that we both loved — which was family, work, the people in all their imperfection, food, alcohol, talking, rage, and a desire to bring the whole structure crashing down. We amused each other.

The image of my uncles and father reminded me about something that happened between us one time. Because these guys were such men — that was the point of it. Your father, and these men from Italy. And you were going through a crisis of faith, about yourself, and a few other things. Very upset. I went to meet you on the banks of the Hudson River, and you told me, you said, “You know what I want to be? I want to be a man. That’s all. I want to be a man.”

Now, this is so odd, because you were such a man. You’re a man in ways many men, including myself, wish they could be a man. The paradox about you as a man is that I always felt personally that with you, I was seeing a young boy. A boy about Michael [Gandolfini]‘s age right now. Because you were very boyish. And about that age when humankind and life on the planet are opening up and putting on a show, really revealing themselves in all their beautiful and horrible glory. And I saw you as a boy, as a sad boy, amazed and confused and loving and amazed by all that.

And that was all in your eyes. And that was why, I think, you were a great actor — is because of that boy that was inside. It was a child reacting. Of course you were intelligent, but it was a child reaction, and your reactions were often childish. And by that I mean they were pre-school, they were pre-manners, they were pre-intellect. They were just simple emotions, straight and pure. And I think your talent is that you can take in the immensity of humankind and the universe and shine it back out to the rest of us like a huge, bright light. And I believe that only a pure soul, like a child, could do that really well. And that was you.

Now, to talk about a third guy between us — there was you and me and this third guy. People always say, “Tony Soprano. Why do we love him so much when he was such a *****?” And my theory was they saw the little boy. They felt and they loved the little boy, and they sensed his love and hurt. And you brought all of that to him.

You were a good boy. Your work with the Wounded Warriors is just one example. And I’m going to say something because I know you’d want me to say it — that no one should forget Tony Sirico’s efforts in this. He was there with you all the way, and in fact, you said to me just recently, “You know, it’s more Tony than me.” And I know you, and I know you would want me to turn the spotlight on him, or you couldn’t be satisfied.

So Tony Soprano never changed, people say. He got darker. I don’t know how they could misunderstand that. He tried, and he tried, and he tried. And you tried, and you tried, more than most of us, and harder than most of us, and sometimes you tried too hard. That refrigerator is one example. Sometimes your efforts were a cost to you and to others. But you tried. And I’m thinking about the fact, like, how nice you were to strangers on the street, fans, photographers. You would be patient and loving and personable. And then finally, you would just do too much, and then you’d snap. And that’s of course what we read about, the snapping.

I was asked to talk about the work, and so I’ll talk about the show we used to do and how we used to do it. I guess everybody knows we always ended an episode with a song. And that was kind of like, letting the great geniuses do the heavy lifting — Bruce [Springsteen] and Nick [Lowe] and Keith [Richards] and Howling Wolf, and a bunch of them.

So if this was an episode, we would end with a song. And the song, as far as I’m concerned, would be Joan Osborne’s “What If God Was One of Us.” And the setup for this — we never did this, you never even heard of this. But the setup was, Tony was somehow lost in the Meadowlands. He didn’t have his car and his wallet, and his car keys. And I forget how he got there — there was some kind of a story. But he had nothing in his pocket but some change. He didn’t have his guys with him. He didn’t have his gun.

And so mob boss Tony Soprano is like one of the working stiffs, getting in line to get on the bus. And the way we were going to film it, he was going to get on the bus. And the lyric that would have gone over that would have been — we don’t have Joan Osborne here to sing it — “If God had a face/What would it look like?/And would you want to see/If seeing meant that you would have to believe?/And yeah, yeah/God is great/Yeah, yeah/God is good/Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

So Tony would get on the bus, and he would sit there, and the bus would pull out of this big billowy haze of smoke. And then the key lyric would come on, and it was: “What if God was one of us/Just a slob like one of us/Just a stranger on the bus/Trying to make his way home?” And that would be playing over your face, Jimmy.

But then — and this is where it gets kind of strange — now, we would have to update it, because of the events of the last week. And I would let the song play further, and the lyrics would be, “Just trying to make his way home/Like a holy rollin’ stone/Back up to heaven all alone/Nobody callin’ on the phone/Except the pope, maybe in Rome.”

Love,
David



http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/james-gandolfini-funeral-read-sopranos-creator-david-chases-eulogy-1200502711/

Briefly, the gang is holding an intervention for Christopher. He is resisting. He shouts back at Tony, '...look at the way you eat. You will be dead at 50.'

Gandolfini died of a heart attack at 51.

z_uuoaJh8SA

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/1032395-Paramedic-allegedly-stole-James-Gandolfini%E2%80%99s-3-000-Rolex-watch-as-actor-lay-dying-in-Rome

A paramedic in Italy who aided a dying James Gandolfini is accused of a crime even Tony Soprano might find cold: Stealing the actor’s Rolex watch in his final moments.

Claudio Bevilacqua, 43, allegedly snatched Gandolfini’s $3,000 Submariner watch while rushing the “Sopranos” star to a Rome hospital in June 2013, according to NBC News. Gandolfini, 51, died that night from a massive heart attack.

Bevilacqua’s trial was supposed to start Monday, but a judge instead postponed it until November after a brief hearing. The paramedic was not in the courtroom

Prosecutors said Gandolfini's top-notch watch disappeared after his death in Rome, but it remains unclear if it vanished from his hotel room or if the actor was wearing it when he collapsed.

Gandolfini, a New Jersey native, died June 19 while vacationing with his family. His teenage son found the tough guy actor unconscious on the bathroom floor in his Boscolo Exedra Hotel room, and Gandolfini was pronounced dead 20 minutes after arriving in a hospital.

Gandolfini unwittingly left nearly half of his $70 million estate susceptible to massive taxes, a mistake one lawyer called “a catastrophe.”
Reps for Gandolfini’s estate could not immediately be reached.