R.I.P. James Gandolfini

[Dimitrius]

https://www.tmz.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead-dies-italy/

James Gandolfini -- who famously played Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" -- died earlier today in Italy ... TMZ has learned.

Gandolfini is believed to have suffered a heart attack. He was 51.

Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily -- and he was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino.

Wow! Truly surprising! RIP Tony Soprano!

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

What? That came out of nowhere, so sad to hear. He was a great actor and will be missed! RIP

[El Barto]

That's too bad. Seemed like a pretty cool guy, despite being famous for portraying a monster.

Really liked him as juror number 6.

[Nick]

What? That came out of nowhere

Well, the more you weigh, the less out of nowhere it is, frankly.

Of course still incredibly sad, and although I never really saw any of his big roles, this is just another example of why I need to stop eating so damn much.

[gmillerdrake]

Bummer news....It's just sad period when someone so relatively young dies 'unexpectedly' like this, especially a father with young children. Sure you can make some assertions about being overweight or taking care of yourself and that it shouldn't be 'unexpected'.....but even 'healthy' people suddenly die. I hope his family gets a lot of love and support.....by all accounts from the interviews I've read today about it he was a nice fella.




























I guess this puts and end to the 'Soprano' movie speculation??   Too Soon???

[sueño]

Very sad.  I really liked him as an actor.

[The Trooper]

RIP Mr. Gandolfini  I knew Mr. Gandolfini. We meet in 2000 thru a mutual friend. They filmed alot of the Sopranos in my hometown and when I moved to a neighboring town, I moved down the block from Frank Vincent who also appeared on the Sopranos. I became friends with Frank. My 2 favorite stories about Mr. Gandofini : The first time I met him was while they were filming the Sopranos. Frank introduced me to him. About a week later Mr. Gandofini was at Frank's house for a BBQ. We talked and hit it off. I kept calling him Mr. Gandofini and I remember him  keep telling me, Marc it is Jimmy. It's Jimmy. Stop calling me Mr. Gandolfini LOL. So we had a running joke that whenever I would see him, I would always say hey Mr. Gandolfini, he would give me a look,  a wise smile and say Marc..............its Jimmy.

2nd, one day Jimmy was a Franks and Best Buy, the electronics store was having an open box sale. I happened to stop buy as they were heading out there. They asked if I wanted to come along. I figured hey, why not. So we walk into the store and everyone is looking at us (well them LOL). Funny thing was Jimmy tried to bargain the price down on an open box TV (he was joking). The look on the salesmans face was priceless. Needless to say  Jimmy purchased 2 large Tv's at regular price LOL.

Again, a guy that would do anything for people.

Again, RIP Jimmy!

Truly one of the nicest, kindest individuals you could ever meet.

[The Trooper]

Also, he had become more fit in the past year or so. TGrust me when I say, he was in the best health since i knew him.

My thoughts are with his wife Deborah and his 2 children.

[RuRoRul]

One of my favourite shows, favourite characters, and I thought he was great in whatever else I saw him in. Was surprised to see HBO post this, just saw a bar called Gandolfini's and was in a place that reminded people of Sopranos tonight.

[Nick]

Bummer news....It's just sad period when someone so relatively young dies 'unexpectedly' like this

Oh, absolutely, it's terrible. I always go back to Steve Irwin though, and all the people who couldn't believe he died when he got stung by a stingray. That's really sad if he was getting himself healthier lately. Unfortunately with smoking especially, it's often too little too late.

[gmillerdrake]

Bummer news....It's just sad period when someone so relatively young dies 'unexpectedly' like this

Oh, absolutely, it's terrible. I always go back to Steve Irwin though, and all the people who couldn't believe he died when he got stung by a stingray. That's really sad if he was getting himself healthier lately. Unfortunately with smoking especially, it's often too little too late.

Yeah, but if you look at how much 'we' abuse out bodies with all the 'bad' stuff we put in it from smoking to the crap that's in most processed foods....our bodies put up a good fight to survive.
  It's just unfortunate in cases like this (if it is indeed a heart attack) that when something goes awry in your heart....there's no real bail out or room for error. Most of the time it's the worst case scenario.
  As 'The Trooper' attested, it sounds like he was a heck of a guy...I truly hope comfort finds his family.
 

[KevShmev]

I will admit that when I heard this, being that The Sopranos is my all-time favorite television show, I was gutted.  Not many celebrity deaths would really affect me outside of an, "Oh, really? That's sad.", but Tony Soprano was THE character on the best show ever, and the sudden death of Gandolfini was like a punch to the gut.

[BlobVanDam]

I didn't watch The Sopranos, but from bits I've seen he played a great part, and this is way too young for anyone to die. RIP.

[Xanthul]

I will admit that when I heard this, being that The Sopranos is my all-time favorite television show, I was gutted.  Not many celebrity deaths would really affect me outside of an, "Oh, really? That's sad.", but Tony Soprano was THE character on the best show ever, and the sudden death of Gandolfini was like a punch to the gut.

Tony was unforgettable but he was pretty good in most of his works. The Mexican and True Romance come to mind. He also sounded like a genuinely chill guy in all the interviews I had read and watched (the Actor's Studio one was nice).

Rest In Peace.

[Zydar]

I must admit, I've only seen a few episodes here and there through the years. I've been meaning to watch The Sopranos all the way through some time.

Anyway, RIP James. You were a great actor.

[kirksnosehair]

Geez, the guy was only 51     Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?


RIP, dude. 

[KevShmev]

I will admit that when I heard this, being that The Sopranos is my all-time favorite television show, I was gutted.  Not many celebrity deaths would really affect me outside of an, "Oh, really? That's sad.", but Tony Soprano was THE character on the best show ever, and the sudden death of Gandolfini was like a punch to the gut.

Tony was unforgettable but he was pretty good in most of his works. The Mexican and True Romance come to mind. He also sounded like a genuinely chill guy in all the interviews I had read and watched (the Actor's Studio one was nice).

Rest In Peace.

I first saw him in Get Shorty way back in 1995 (I didn't see True Romance till like three years ago).

[Big Hath]

probably doesn't warrant its own thread here, but author Vince Flynn (47) also died yesterday after battling prostate cancer.  He's the guy that wrote the Mitch Rapp/counter-terrorist books.

[KevShmev]

Awesome article on Gandolfini:

https://www.vulture.com/2013/06/james-gandolfini-obit-matt-zoller-seitz.html

[senecadawg2]

His acting for Tony Soprano is the best television performance I've ever seen. Really sad to hear this.

[KevShmev]

Two years ago today.

[MetalJunkie]

Two years ago today.

I was about to text my friend, a huge Sopranos fan, with the news. Then I thought "wait a sec..." and checked the thread date.

[Tick]

I was like..."Oh no, he died again?"