Untimely death: Sopranos star James Gandolfini has died of a suspected heart attack in Italy, seen here on June 10th at a charity gala...
Hello Friends!
James Gandolfini has died aged 51 after a suspected heart attack.
The Sopranos star was on vacation in Rome with his son Michael, 13, wife Deborah and nine-month-old daughter Liliana Ruth ahead of the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.
Gandolfini suffered a heart attack in his room on Wednesday at around 10pm at the Hotel Exedra after a day out in Rome with his family.
Son Michael, 13, called the reception desk for help, and hotel employees immediately called paramedics, confirmed a spokesman for the hotel.
Doctors pronounced him dead less than an hour later.
James Gandolfini with his son and second wife Deborah Lin at a film premiere in 2011...
The spokesman told ABC News the actor was alive when the ambulance left for Policlinico Umberto I hospital in central Rome.
Gandolfini arrived at the hospital at around 10:40 p.m. in cardiac arrest, confirmed Prof Claudio Modini, director of the Emergency Department of the Policlinico.
Paramedics in the ambulance had already started the resuscitation procedure but he was declared dead 40 minutes after his arrival at the hospital.
In a statement Gandolfini's managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders confirmed the death, which happened on Wednesday.
Married to the mob: In character with his Sopranos co-stars Edie Falco, Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler...
Gandolfini seen in the first season of the hit HBO show in 1999...
'Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving,' they said.
Gandolfini seen in the first season of the hit HBO show in 1999
Cable channel HBO called the actor a '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.'
The actor and his family had spent a 'beautiful day out together' in Rome before his tragic passing, according to Gandolfini's assistant, Tom Richardson.
According to Mike Sullivan, a close friend of Gandolfini's, Richardson told him: 'When they got back to the hotel, Jimmy went to use the restroom. And something happened in there.
'His sister said he was alive when they took him out in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.'
The teenager's mother, James' first wife Marcy Wudarski, is said to have immediately booked a flight to Italy to be with her son after learning of the actor's death.
He was married to Michael's mother Marcy for three years until they divorced in 2002.
Gandolfini's second wife, former model Deborah Lin, was with the star in Italy along with their daughter Liliana.
Breakout role: Gandolfini is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in hit HBO series The Sopranos...
Compelling: Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) and Lorraine Bracco, as Dr. Jennifer Melfi, in a scene from the fourth season of The Sopranos...
First big role: Gandolfini in 1993's True Romance, in which he also played a mobster...
Deborah gave birth to Gandolfini's second child, Liliana, nine months last October, the couple married in Hawaii in 2008...
Following the birth of his daughter, a spokesperson for the actor said he was 'thrilled' at becoming a father again.
The actor who was born in Westwood, New Jersey - the fictional setting of the show that made him a star - rose to fame playing the hit man in the 1993 film True Romance, and roles in films such as Terminal Velocity and Get Shorty followed.
However, it wasn't until his breakout role in 1999 in the hit HBO television show The Sopranos that he became a household name.
He played the powerful mob boss Tony Soprano whose stressful gangster and family life left him needing to visit a psychiatrist (Lorraine Bracco).
His compelling portrayal of the murderous mob boss who suffered from panic attacks saw him win three Emmy Awards for the role.
The Sopranos creator David Chase called his leading actor 'a genius'.
He said: 'Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes.
'I remember telling him many times, "You don't get it. You're like Mozart." There would be silence at the other end of the phone.'
He added: 'He wasn't easy sometimes. But he was my partner, he was my brother in ways I can't explain and never will be able to explain.'
Devoted dad: James was said be 'thrilled' at the arrival of his daughter last year; he is pictured carrying her to lunch with his wife in May...
Family tragedy: The actor was married twice, to Deborah Lin, left, mother of his nine month old daughter, and right, Marcy Wudarski the mother of son Michael who has flown to Rome to be with him...
James Gandolfini marries Deborah Lin. The couple tied the knot on the islands of Hawaii over the Labor Day weekend in 2008...
While an HBO spokesman said: 'We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family.
'He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us.'
Gandolfini's character Tony Soprano died in the season finale, although the audience was never shown the moment of his death.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the ending, Gandolfini said: ‘What the f***? I mean, after all I went through, all this death, and then it’s over like that?'
The scene: People walk in the entrance of the morgue of Policlinico Umberto I hospital where the body of actor Gandolfini was brought after he was reported dead late Wednesday...
Chris Albrecht who gave the greenlight for crime family drama at HBO in 1999 and approved Gandolfini for the role told Deadline: 'Absolutely stunned. I got the word from Lorraine Bracco and just got off with Brad Grey who had just heard from David Chase.
'We had all become a family. This is a tremendous loss.'
And Steve Schrirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri in the show, said upon hearing the news: 'I had to get up and leave. It was like being told a brother had died. Jimmy Gandolfini was as great a friend as he was an actor and a human being.
The best of friends: David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, has spoken of his grief following Gandolfini's untimely passing...
'The phone hasn’t stopped. I spoke to a lot of the guys from The Sopranos. We were crying. People joke about us being a family. But we are a family.'
Meanwhile his co-star Joe Gannascoli, who played Vito Spatafore on the HBO drama, said he was shocked and heartbroken at the news.
'Fifty-one and leaves a kid -- he was newly married. His son is fatherless now ... It's way too young,' Gannascoli said.
In memory: A reserved sign sits on the booth where the last series The Sopranos was filmed at Holsten's ice cream parlor in Bloomfield, New Jersey on Wednesday...
Tribute: Gandolfini's picture is displayed in the window of a restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York following his sudden death on Wednesday...
Paying their respects: Fans stop to contemplate Gandolfini's make-shift memorial...
Gandolfini's sudden and unexpected death has prompted a huge outpouring of grief from those who worked with the actor, with many celebrities taking to Twitter to pay tribute.
Actor and friend Gilles Marini revealed on his Facebook page that Gandolfini had travelled to Italy with his son Michael for a 'boy trip'.
'I am heartbroken. My bud James Gandolfini just died. Last Saturday he told me at our kids graduation [that] he was so happy to go with his son to Italy. A boy trip!' Marini wrote.
He added: 'It was an honor to have met this man, such a great Dad! I spent so much time with James son teaching him soccer. I feel for that kid it must be so hard right now for little [Michael].'
'RIP James Gandolfini. A great friend,' wrote Jeff Daniels, his co-star in Broadway's God of Carnage.
'I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini!' tweeted Christina Applegate, his co-star in the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas. 'My heart is broken for his family!! I’m in shock.'
Versatile: James Gandolfini starred opposite Twilight's Kristen Stewart in the heartwarming 2010 movie Welcome To The Rileys...
Steve Carell, who was about to work with the larger-than-life star in HBO Films' Bone Wars, added: 'James Gandolfini. Unbelievably sad news. A fine man.'
Following the success of the HBO television series - which finished in 2007 - he continued to make big screen appearances in critically acclaimed films including In The Loop and The Taking of Pelham 123.
He appeared alongside Twilight actress Kristen Stewart in the heartwarming drama Welcome to the Rileys and voiced the Wild Thing Carol in Where the Wild Things Are.
In his personal life, Gandolfini made his first public appearance with Deborah at the premiere of the second half of the sixth and final series of The Sopranos in March 2007.
Their wedding just a year later was an incredibly romantic affair.
In his younger days: As a basketball star at Ridge High School, Park Ridge in New Jersey...
They exchanged vows in front of family and friends at Honolulu's Central Union Church.
Deborah wore a white gown made of Italian lace, while the church was decorated with white lilies and rhododendrons.
He recently played Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in the Oscar nominated film Zero Dark Thirty.
Born in Westwood, New Jersey, Gandolfini graduated from Park Ridge High School, where he cut his teeth acting in school plays, and went on to study communications at Rutgers University.
New Jersey Govener Chris Christie has described himself as a 'huge fan' of Gandolfini.
'It's an awful shock. James Gandolfini was a fine actor, a Rutgers alum and a true Jersey guy,' he said.
Gandolfini started his professional acting career treading the boards in New York, and made his Broadway debut in the 1992 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin.
Although his first film role came before in the 1987 comedy horror movie Shock! Shock! Shock! and also had a minor role in the Melanie Griffith thriller A Stranger Among Us.
Senior year: James Gandolfini, in 1979 at Park Ridge High School, New Jersey
LOVING TRIBUTES: CELEBRITIES EXPRESS THEIR GRIEF ON TWITTER
Broadway: James with actor Jeff Daniels
'RIP James Gandolfini. A great friend,' wrote Jeff Daniels, his co-star in Broadway's God of Carnage.
'I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini!' tweeted Christina Applegate, his co-star in the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas. 'My heart is broken for his family!! I’m in shock.'
Steve Carell, who was about to work with the larger-than-life star in HBO Films' Bone Wars, tweeted: 'James Gandolfini. Unbelievably sad news. A fine man.'
Olivia Wilde, who starred with the actor in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, said: 'James Gandolfini was a kind, funny, wonderful guy. I'm so lucky to have worked with him. Sending love to his family. Such a sad, sad day.'
Patrick Wilson wrote: 'R.I.P. James Gandolfini. So awful. What a fantastic actor…so much to say but I can’t even process. My condolences to his family.'
Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale said: 'james gandolfini– so sad what an incredible actor. more loss. be good to each other. it’s all so short.'
Actor Jonah Hill: 'I'm truly heartbroken to hear that James Gandolfini has passed away. He is one of my all time favorite actors. Tragic loss.'
Touching tribute: Actress Rose McGowan posted this picture of herself and James on Twitter
Rose McGowan posted a picture of herself with the actor, saying: 'I am heartbroken about James Gandolfini. He was a gentle giant and great man. I love this picture, I loved him.'...
Carson Daly: 'SO SAD! PRAYING FOR HIS FAMILY- wow- Shocked by this news today….'
Josh Henderson: 'Just read about James Gandolfini.. Never met him but what a damn good actor. Gone way to soon. Rip brother.. #prayers'
Dominic Monaghan: 'Oh man James gandolfini died. Fantastic in the soprano, and true romance. A great talent.'
Alyssa Milano: 'Rest in peace, Mr. Gandolfini.'
Broadway: James with actor Jeff Daniels...
Rainn Wilson: 'Arrivederci, James Gandolfini. You were one of the great greats. We’ll miss your dangerous, big heart. #RIPGandolfini'
Josh Groban: 'Thank you James Gandolfini for some of the most brilliant tv moments of all time. So sad!!!'
Giuliana Rancic: 'Just heard James Gandolfini has died of a heart attack at the age of 51. So incredibly sad.'
Leah Remini: 'R.I.P James Gandolfini. My prayers to his family and friends. He will certainly be missed by us who loved watching him'
Culled from The Daily Mail UK...
xoxo
Simply Cheska...
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