Best known for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano in the HBO crime drama series “The Sopranos,” James Gandolfini is one of the most beloved and innovative American performers of all time. His death shocked the world, especially the entertainment industry, but his popularity continues to grow nearly a decade since his passing.
Gandolfini’s health had reportedly been a concern for executives at HBO during the filming of the television series due to his history of drug and alcohol abuse. Yet, years after the “Sopranos” ended, Gandolfini earned praise for his performances in several critically acclaimed films.
At the time of his passing at the age of 51, he had received 19 acting awards and over 50 nominations, including three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role in the “Sopranos.”
Why is he famous?
Prior to his role and accolades on the Sopranos, Gandolfini, a New Jersey native, developed his career in the New York theater scene with various small-time gigs and movie appearances before his first Broadway debut in 1992’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” where he acted alongside Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. The following year he had his first major film breakout role in the mob action movie “True Romance” as the hitman Virgil.
However, it was his casting in the mid-1990s for the role of the therapy-seeking mobster Tony Soprano that made Gandolfini a household name and beloved New Jersey icon. The show focused on the life of Tony Soprano, a respected New Jersey mob boss managing his family and professional life while trying to work through his mental health issues with psychiatric counseling. At the time it was aired, it was the most popular series on television and still is one of the most watched HBO season premieres of all time.
Writers and Hollywood heavyweights have praised the late actor for his pioneering portrayal of a television anti-hero. Vincent Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” noted at the time of Gandolfini’s death that “without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White.”
“He was a genius. 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,” David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos,” said after Gandolfini died in 2013. “A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes.”
How did he pass away?
Gandolfini died unexpectedly during a vacation in Rome with his family on June 19, 2013. His son, Michael, found him unconscious in his hotel bathroom. Paramedics rushed the actor to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a heart attack. His funeral was attended by friends, family, and many of his Soprano’s co-stars, including Michael Imperioli, who played his nephew Christopher in the series, and Edie Falco, his on-screen wife for eight years.
Who inherited his money?
After his death, Gandolfini’s will split his multimillion-dollar estate between his family and friends. His son Michael, who was 14 at the time, received all of his father’s clothing and jewelry along with $7 million from a life insurance policy in a trust fund. He also shared a 50% stake with his half-sister for a property his father owned in Italy, according to the New York Post.
