James John Gandolfini, Jr. (September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor best known for his role in The Sopranos as Tony Soprano, a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia. Gandolfini garnered enormous praise for this portrayal, winning three Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globes for Best Actor - Drama Series as well as two further SAG Awards as a member of the series' ensemble. Gandolfini's other roles include the woman-beating Mob henchman Virgil in True Romance, enforcer/stuntman Bear in Get Shorty, and the impulsive Wild Thing Carol in Where the Wild Things Are.
Gandolfini produced the 2007 documentary Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq, in which he interviewed 10 injured Iraq War veterans. His second documentary was released in 2010; Wartorn: 1861–2010 analyzes posttraumatic stress disorder and its impact on soldiers and families through several wars in American history, from 1861 to 2010. TV Guide ranked him 28 on its "50 Sexiest Stars of All Time" list in 2005.
Early life
Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey. His mother, Santa, a high school lunch lady, was born in the United States of Italian ancestry and raised in Naples, Italy. His father, James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a native of Borgotaro, Italy, was a bricklayer and cement mason and was later the head custodian at Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey.] James, Sr. earned a Purple Heart in World War II.Gandolfini's parents were devout Roman Catholics and spoke Italian at home. Due to the influence of his parents, he developed a strong sense of being Italian and visited Italy regularly.He grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey and graduated from Park Ridge High School in 1979, where he played basketball, acted in school plays, and was awarded the title "Class Flirt" in his senior yearbook. He attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies from Rutgers University in 1982, where he worked as a bouncer at an on-campus pub. He also worked as a bartender and club manager in Manhattan prior to his acting career. He was introduced to acting as a young man living in New York City, when he accompanied friend Roger Bart to a Meisner technique acting class where he studied for two years under Kathryn Gately at The Gately Poole Conservatory.
The Sopranos
Gandolfini's most acclaimed role, the lead character in the HBO drama "The Sopranos", was as Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mob boss and family man who constantly questions his identity and purpose, especially through regular psychiatrist visits. The show debuted in 1999 and ran through 2007. For his depiction of Soprano, Gandolfini won three Emmys for "Best Actor in a Drama". Entertainment Weekly listed him as the 42nd Greatest TV Icon of All Time.Film and stage work
Gandolfini performed in a 1992 Broadway production of On the Waterfront for six weeks. One of his best-known film roles was that of Virgil, a brutal woman-beating mob enforcer, in the 1993 romantic thriller True Romance.[3] Gandolfini said that one of his major inspirations for the role of Virgil, in True Romance, was an old friend of his who was a hitman.[3] In the 1994 film Terminal Velocity, Gandolfini played Ben Pinkwater, a seemingly mild-mannered insurance man who turns out to be a violent Russian mobster. In Get Shorty (1995), he appeared as a bearded ex-stuntman with a Southern accent, and in The Juror (1996), he played a mob enforcer with a conscience.[3] He played the Mayor of New York in the 2009 remake of The Taking of Pelham 123.Gandolfini returned to HBO in 2007 as the executive producer of the Emmy-nominated documentary special, Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq, his first project after The Sopranos and the first production for his company Attaboy Films, which was opened in 2006 with producing partner Alexandra Ryan. He returned to the stage in 2009, appearing in Broadway's God of Carnage with Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels.
He was executive producer of the 2012 HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn, titled Hemingway & Gellhorn, starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman. Gandolfini reunited with Sopranos creator David Chase for Not Fade Away (2012), a music-driven production set in 1960s New Jersey, and the latter's feature film debut.
Alive Day: Home from Iraq
Wartorn: 1861–2010
In 2010, Gandolfini produced another documentary with HBO, which analyzed the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) throughout American history, from 1861 to 2010. It featured interviews with American military officials on their views of PTSD and how they are trying to help soldiers affected by it. Letters from soldiers of the American Civil War and World War I who were affected by PTSD are examined, along with interviews with soldiers affected by PTSD and their families.Personal life
Gandolfini and his first wife, Marcy Wudarski, divorced in December 2002. They have a son named Michael (born 2000).[19]
August 30, 2008, after two years of dating, Gandolfini married former model Deborah Lin, who was 40 years old at the time, in her hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii.[20] Their daughter, Liliana Ruth Gandolfini, was born in Los Angeles, California, on October 10, 2012
Death and reaction
Gandolfini died on June 19, 2013, during a brief vacation in Rome, Italy. He had expected to travel to Sicily on June 22 to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest. Following a day of sightseeing in Rome in sweltering heat, Gandolfini's 13-year-old son Michael discovered him around 10 pm local time on the bathroom floor at the Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Rome's Piazza della Repubblica. Michael called hotel reception, who in turn called emergency paramedics.[19] Gandolfini reportedly arrived at the hospital at 10:40 pm and was pronounced dead at 11 pm.[22] An autopsy on Gandolfini confirmed that he had died of a heart attack.[23]While word of his death spread, politicians such as John McCain and Chris Christie took to the Internet to respond to his death.[24][25][26] Christie ordered all New Jersey State buildings to fly flags at half staff on June 24 to honor Gandolfini when his remains returned to the United States.[27] The people of Gandolfini's hometown, Park Ridge, New Jersey started a Facebook page to discuss plans to honor him, including naming a street after him and renaming the Little Theater at Park Ridge High School, where he did his first performances, after him.[28]
The day following Gandolfini's death, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which has long featured Sopranos co-star Steven Van Zandt on guitar, gave a performance of their 1975 classic Born to Run and dedicated it to Gandolfini.[29]
Gandolfini's body was returned to the U.S. on June 23. Family spokesman Michael Kobold thanked both Italian and American authorities for expediting the repatriation process, which normally takes seven days.[30] Broadway dimmed theater marquee lights on the night of Wednesday, June 26 in Gandolfini's honor.[31] His funeral service was held on June 27, 2013 at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Morningside Heights, New York City.[32][33]
According to Gandolfini's will dated Dec. 19, 2012 and filed July 2, 2013 in Manhattan Surrogate's Court, the actor left a huge portion of his estimated $70 million estate to son Michael, with daughter Liliana and Gandolfini's widow, sisters and nieces also sharing in the inheritance.[
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