The 51-year-old actor, most famous for his role on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” died Wednesday while vacationing in Italy.
James Gandolfini, who was best known for his Emmy award winning role as Tony Soprano on the hit HBO series “The Sopranos,” died suddenly while on vacation in Rome, Italy, Wednesday night. No official cause of death has been reported yet, but it is suspected he died of a heart attack. The former bartender, bouncer, and truck driver came to acting in his mid-20s, appearing in small roles both on the stage and screen. According to CNN, he was a “well-regarded character actor,” and was a “master of the small things.”
He had a small role in the 1992 Broadway revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange, and appeared in such films as the Quentin Tarantino-written “True Romance” (1993), “Get Shorty” (1995) and “A Civil Action” (1998). Though his roles were limited, he invested them with beauty and invention.
“The Sopranos” gave Gandolfini fame and wealth; he got in a contract dispute before the fifth season, eventually winning a contract worth around $13 million, according to a Variety report at the time. But instead of pursuing Hollywood leading roles, he immersed himself in his craft and his interests. He played a general in “In the Loop” and the CIA director in “Zero Dark Thirty,” neither role showy or outsized. He starred in the Broadway production of “God of Carnage” and was nominated for a Tony. He produced documentaries about wounded soldiers.
Gandolfini, who will most certainly be best remembered for his role as Tony Soprano, has left an amazing legacy, and he will be missed.
Watch the tribute video put together by Movie Trailers for some of Gandolfini’s most famous roles.
What was your favorite Gandolfini role?
Photo: The Sopranos Screenshot/HBO
I feel so (selfishly) saddened; not just for a life-cut-too-short, and for the sorrow of his family & friends, but also because I felt that his best days as an actor were still ahead of him (despite the magnitude of his past accomplishments). I still think his very best performances as an actor, and/or his most compelling role (though Tony Soprano is a tough act to follow I grant you) were yet to come. But now we as an audience will never get to see it. Just like that last scene from the Sopranos, the end, when it came, just… Read more »
I love this post – a writer explains how her celebrity crush on James Gandolfini never seemed unlikely. He was his own man. He definitely had a certain sex appeal.
https://medium.com/pop-of-culture/a56a7efd1d57