James Joseph Gandolfini, Jr. was an American actor and producer best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the award-winning HBO series, The Sopranos, in which he played a troubled, American Mafia crime boss. Gandolfini garnered praise for his portrayal of Soprano, winning three Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Gandolfinis other notable 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 ten injured Iraq War veterans. His second documentary Wartorn: 1861–2010, released in 2010, analyzes the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder on soldiers and families through several wars in American history, from 1861 to 2010. In 2010, Gandolfini produced a 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.[citation needed] He was executive producer of the HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn, titled Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman. Gandolfini reunited with The Sopranos creator David Chase for Not Fade Away (2012), a music-driven production set in 1960s New Jersey, and the latters feature film debut. Gandolfini died on June 19, 2013, aged 51, during a brief vacation in Rome, Italy. He was 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, Gandolfinis 13-year-old son Michael discovered him unconscious around 10 pm local time on the bathroom floor at the Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Romes Piazza della Repubblica. Michael called hotel reception, who in turn called emergency paramedics.[ Gandolfini reportedly arrived at the hospital at 10:40 pm and was pronounced dead at 11 pm. An autopsy confirmed Gandolfini had died of a heart attack. While word of his death spread, politicians such as John McCain and Chris Christie took to the Internet to respond. Christie ordered all New Jersey State buildings to fly flags at half staff on June 24 to honor Gandolfini when his remains were returned to the United States. The people of Gandolfinis 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. The day after Gandolfinis 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. Gandolfinis body was returned to the U.S. on June 23, 2013. Family spokesman Michael Kobold thanked both Italian and American authorities for expediting the repatriation process, which normally takes seven days. Broadway dimmed theater marquee lights on the night of Wednesday, June 26 in Gandolfinis honor. His funeral service was held on June 27, 2013 at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Morningside Heights, New York City. TV Guide published a special tribute to Gandolfini in their July 1, 2013 issue, devoting the entire back cover of that issue to his image. Columnist Matt Roush cited Gandolfinis work as Tony Soprano as an influence on subsequent cable TV protagonists, saying, Without Tony, theres no Vic Mackey of The Shield, no Al Swearengen of Deadwood, no Don Draper of Mad Men (whose creator, Matthew Weiner, honed his craft as a writer on The Sopranos). Similar testimonials were included by his costars and colleagues, including Edie Falco, who expressed shock and devastation at his passing, Sopranos creator David Chase, who praised him as a genius, Bryan Cranston, who stated that his Breaking Bad character Walter White would not have existed without Tony Soprano, and Gandolfinis Killing Them Softly costar Brad Pitt, who expressed admiration of Gandolfini as a ferocious actor, a gentle soul and a genuinely funny man. Three months after his sudden death, it was reported that in Gandolfinis last will and testament, dated December 19, 2012 and filed July 2, 2013 in Manhattan Surrogates Court, the late actor left a huge portion of his estimated $70 million estate among his two sisters, widow and daughter. The will did not state any inheritance for his only son, Michael, because Gandolfini provided for him a separate trust that is funded by a life-insurance policy. n December, 2013, following an online petition campaign started by Gandolfinis high school classmate, Lori Fredrics, the Borough of Park Ridge, New Jersey renamed its main thoroughfare, Park Avenue, James Gandolfini Way at a public ceremony attended by several former cast members of the television series, The Sopranos. RIP ❤️❤️❤️
Posted on: Mon, 09 Dec 2013 00:24:34 +0000
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