Actor James Gandolfini Dead at 51

Actor James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome. According to reports the 51-year-old actor died from a heart attack.

Gandolfini was best known for playing Tony Soprano on HBO’s hit series The Sopranos. The show, about a mob boss struggling with his family, his job and almost crippling anxiety, changed the face of television and put HBO on the map as the home of a kind of quality TV that was completely new. Dark, funny and often obscure, much of the show’s success rested on Gandolfini’s ample shoulders.
Despite the popularity of recent shows like Game of Thrones, The Sopranos remains HBO’s highest-rated series of all time attracting 14.4 million viewers for its 2004 season.

Gandolfini was not your typical leading man. Heavy and balding, he found success later in life. The star had always been a beloved character actor, standing out with small parts in movies like True Romance and Get Shorty. It wasn’t until 1999 when, at the age of 37, he landed his first major role on creator David Chase’s The Sopranos. As Tony, Gandolfini showed us a mob boss the likes of which we had never seen before. He cheated on his wife but fiercely loved his family. He exuded machsimo while suffering inside. We got to see all of Tony’s pain and anger in every shot of Gandolfini’s face. Just check our the intro to the show which ends with an exasperated Tony getting out his car in front of his suburban manse.

In 2007, when the show ended, Gandolfini turned to Broadway, producing and character roles in movies. He played an American general in the British political comedy In The Loop (watch it) and the director of the C.I.A. in last year’s Zero Dark Thirty. He was nominated for a Tony for his work in Gods of Carnage on Broadway.

Gandolfini won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a drama three times for his work on The Sopranos. The actor, and all the roles he never got to play, will be missed by we’ll always have Tony Soprono.

Culled From FORBES