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James Gandolfini, 'Sopranos' Star, Dies at 51
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Matthew Kruk
Jun 19, 2013, 9:13:58 PM6/19/13
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/arts/television/james-gandolfini-sopranos-star-dies-at-51.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0
The New York Times
June 19, 2013
James Gandolfini, 'Sopranos' Star, Dies at 51
By DAVE ITZKOFF
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.
The New York Times
June 19, 2013
James Gandolfini, 'Sopranos' Star, Dies at 51
By DAVE ITZKOFF
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.
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