James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (Italian: ; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series The Sopranos (1999–2007). For this role, he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one Golden Globe Award. His role as Tony Soprano has been described as one of the greatest and most influential performances in television history.
Gandolfini starred in numerous films including True Romance (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), A Civil Action (1998), The Last Castle (2001), Romance & Cigarettes (2005), All the King's Men (2006), In the Loop (2009), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Not Fade Away (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012). He gained acclaim for playing against type starring in the romantic comedy Enough Said (2013). For the role he earned numerous critics awards including a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
Gandolfini is also known for his roles on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire (1992), On the Waterfront (1995), and God of Carnage (2009), the latter earning him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. He also produced the war documentaries Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (2007), Wartorn: 1861–2010 (2011) and the HBO film Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), which gained him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series nomination. In 2013, Gandolfini died of a heart attack in Rome at the age of 51.
Early life
Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey, on September 18, 1961. His mother, Santa (née Penna), was a high school food service worker of Italian descent who was born in the United States and raised in Naples. His Italian-born father, James Joseph Gandolfini Sr. (born Giacomo Giuseppe Gandolfini) a native of Borgo Val di Taro (in the Northeastern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna), worked as a bricklayer and cement mason and later was the head custodian at Paramus Catholic High School. James Sr. earned a Purple Heart in World War II. The elder Gandolfini would purchase car tires from a shop owned by Salvatore Travolta, the father of John Travolta. Consequently, James Jr. and Travolta became friends and would later act together in five films. Gandolfini's parents were devout Catholics who spoke Italian at home. Due to the influence of his parents, he developed a strong sense of Italian-American identity and visited Italy regularly. He had two sisters.
Gandolfini grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey, and graduated from Park Ridge High School in 1979, where he played basketball, acted in school plays, and was awarded the title "Class Flirt" in his senior yearbook. He earned a BA in Communications from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 1983, where he worked as a bouncer at an on-campus pub. He also worked as a bartender and club manager in Manhattan prior to his acting career. He was introduced to acting while living in New York City, when he accompanied his friend Roger Bart to a Meisner technique acting class. He studied for two years under Kathryn Gately at The Gately Poole Conservatory.
