James Gandolfini: Friends, Family Mourn Acting 'Genius'
Vera Anderson/WireImage
by Lynn Elber, AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) - James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal,
emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" was the brilliant
core of one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster
stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51.
Gandolfini died while on holiday in Rome, the cable channel and
Gandolfini's managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders said in a joint
statement. No cause of death was given.
"He was a genius," said "Sopranos" creator David Chase. "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."
Gandolfini, who won three Emmy Awards for his role as Tony Soprano,
worked steadily in film and on stage after the series ended. He earned a
2009 Tony Award nomination for his role in the celebrated production of
"God of Carnage."
"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," said
Armstrong and Sanders.
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 channel expressed
sympathy for his wife and children.
Joe Gannascoli, who played Vito Spatafore on the HBO drama, said he was shocked and heartbroken.
"Fifty-one and leaves a kid - he was newly married. His son is fatherless now. ... It's way too young," Gannascoli said.
Gandolfini and his wife, Deborah, who were married in 2008, have a
daughter, Liliana, born last year, HBO said. The actor and his former
wife, Marcy, have a teenage son, Michael.
Gandolfini's performance in "The Sopranos" was indelible and
career-making, but he refused to be stereotyped as the bulky mobster who
was a therapy patient, family man and apparently effortless killer.
In a December 2012 interview with The Associated Press, a rare sit-down
for the star who avoided the spotlight, he was upbeat about a slew of
smaller roles following the breathtaking blackout ending in 2007 of "The
Sopranos."
"I'm much more comfortable doing smaller things," Gandolfini said in the
interview. "I like them. I like the way they're shot; they're shot
quickly. It's all about the scripts - that's what it is - and I'm
getting some interesting little scripts."
He played Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in Kathryn Bigelow's Osama
bin Laden hunt docudrama "Zero Dark Thirty." He worked with Chase for
the '60s period drama "Not Fade Away," in which he played the old-school
father of a wannabe rocker. And in Andrew Dominick's crime flick
"Killing Them Softly," he played an aged, washed-up hit man.
There were comedies such as the political satire "In the Loop," and the
heartwarming drama "Welcome to the Rileys," which co-starred Kristen
Stewart. He voiced the Wild Thing Carol in "Where the Wild Things Are"
and made a rare return to the TV screen with the HBO film "Cinemate
Verite."
Deploying his unsought clout as a star, Gandolfini produced (though only
sparingly appeared in) a pair documentaries for HBO focused on a cause
he held dear: veterans affairs.
"Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq" (2007) profiled 10 soldiers and
Marines who had cheated death but continued to wage personal battles
long after their military service had ended. Four years later, "Wartorn:
1861-2010" charted victims of post-traumatic stress disorder from the
U.S. invasion of Iraq all the way back to the Civil War.
"Do I think a documentary is going to change the world?" Gandolfini said
with characteristic modesty during an interview about the latter film.
"No, but I think there will be individuals who will learn things from
it, so that's enough."
Gandolfini grew up in Park Ridge, N.J., the son of a building
maintenance chief at a Catholic school and a high school lunch lady.
While Tony Soprano was a larger-than-life figure, Gandolfini was
exceptionally modest and obsessive - he described himself as "a
260-pound Woody Allen."
In past interviews, his cast mates had far more glowing descriptions to offer.
"I had the greatest sparring partner in the world, I had Muhammad Ali,"
said Lorraine Bracco, who, as Tony's psychiatrist Dr. Melfi, went
one-on-one with Gandolfini in their penetrating therapy scenes. "He
cares what he does, and does it extremely well."
After earning a degree in communications from Rutgers University,
Gandolfini moved to New York, where he worked as a bartender, bouncer
and nightclub manager. When he was 25, he joined a friend of a friend in
an acting class, which he continued for several years.
Gandolfini's first big break was a Broadway production of "A Streetcar
Named Desire" where he played Steve, one of Stanley Kowalski's poker
buddies. His film debut was in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us"
(1992).
Director Tony Scott, who killed himself in August 2012, had praised
Gandolfini's talent for fusing violence with charisma - which he would
perfect in Tony Soprano.
Gandolfini played a tough guy in Tony Scott's 1993 film "True Romance"
who beat Patricia Arquette's character to a pulp while offering such
jarring, flirtatious banter as, "You got a lot of heart kid."
Scott called Gandolfini "a unique combination of charming and dangerous."
Gandolfini continued with supporting roles in "Crimson Tide" (1995),
"Get Shorty" (1995), "The Juror" (1996), Lumet's "Night Falls on
Manhattan" (1997), "She's So Lovely" (1997), "Fallen" (1998) and "A
Civil Action" (1998). But it was "True Romance" that piqued the interest
of Chase.
He shared a Broadway stage with Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay
Harden in "God of Carnage" when he received the best-actor Tony nod. He
was in "On the Waterfront" with David Morse and was an understudy in a
revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1992 starring Alec Baldwin and
Jessica Lange.
In his 2012 AP interview, Gandolfini said he gravitated to acting as a
release, a way to get rid of anger. "I don't know what exactly I was
angry about," he said.
"I try to avoid certain things and certain kinds of violence at this
point," he said last year. "I'm getting older, too. I don't want to be
beating people up as much. I don't want to be beating women up and those
kinds of things that much anymore."
