Report: James Gandolfini dies in Italy

[The Straight Story]

Report: James Gandolfini DIES IN ITALY

James Gandolfini -- who famously played Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" -- reportedly died earlier today in Italy ... TMZ has learned.

The details surrounding Gandolfini's death are unclear. He was 51.

Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily -- and he was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino.

Gandolfini shot to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 hit "True Romance" ... and quickly became a Hollywood legend when he was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999.

He won 3 Emmy awards for the role during the show's 6 season run.

http://www.tmz.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead-dies-italy/

[tritsofme]

1. What? I really hope this is a case of TMZ peddling BS.

[The Straight Story]

3. Me too, looking for other sources (nt)

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Google news is coming up with nothing

[The Straight Story]

11. Variety has it now too

http://variety.com/

[tritsofme]

16. Google news is starting to blow up with it

Hard to tell if it's based on anything other than the TMZ report.

[Cooley Hurd]

22. Oh for fucks sake...

either a hoax, or...

[AgingAmerican]

36. Is only coming up on tabloids so far

Nothing on abc, cbs, nbc cnn etc

[Cooley Hurd]

38. CNN's live w/ it...

...but they could be riffing on the rumor. I can only hope...

[boston bean]

31. This link says he was death hoaxed yesterday.

http://en.mediamass.net/people/james-gandolfini/deathhoax.html

And it was debunked today..

If he did die today that is quite a coincidence. But not out of the realm of possibilities.

[dbackjon]

58. TMZ is actually a very reliable source

[tritsofme]

62. Well they certainly broke in on the top of this story.

At the time there were zero collaborating sources.

[cbdo2007]

70. agree, TMZ is always accurate on the celebrity stuff

[Cooley Hurd]

2. WHAT THE FUCK??????

Looking for addl sources - this man is MY FAVORITE LIVING ACTOR - this cannot be true!!!

Google news is showing nothing!

[Auggie]

4. No way ...

[SoCalDem]

5. How sad.. CNN HAS COVERAGE

perhaps a heart attack? He did not appear to be very fit.

[reformist2]

18. Sadly, he was 51 going on 65.

He looked a *lot* older than his age.

[SoCalDem]

33. Where you have your first heart attack is crucial..

Last edited Thu Jun 20, 2013, 02:43 PM - Edit history (1)

He may have been quite removed from high quality hospitals/paramedics.

A good frind of mine died in his car on the way home.. a heart attack. He was only 49.

The ultimate irony is that the store we worked at was in a shopping center with a fire department paramedic station..firemen were always in our store.. Had John had his attack 15 minuted earlier, I'm sure he would have lived..

[Warpy]

42. There is high quality care to be had in Palermo, if he was there.

Out of hospital heart attacks were 50% fatal when I was in practice. While stocking ambulances with defibrillators has reduced that statistic somewhat, the statistics are still pretty grim, especially for people with family histories of early MI and cardiac death.

[SoCalDem]

45. Apparently his own father died young..

you just never know..

[Warpy]

49. With that kind of family history

you kind of do know.

Staying away from tobacco (which he didn't do) would likely have delayed the onset of heart disease by as much as a decade. Antilipid drugs would likely have helped had he started them as a young man.

RIP, James. I will always be grateful for that episode when the two goombahs were chasing the indestructible Russian in the pine flats of southern Jersey.

[Vanje]

57. A friend of mine died of a heart attack last weekend.

He felt bad and had chest pain on Saturday. ...so he went to bed to rest, and died.
He wasn't old. He was apparently fit. He should've had decades more.
I hate that he is gone.

My fellow DU-ers, Please PLEASE Don't ignore your symptoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James Gandolfini was a GREAT! I feel the loss. I hate that he is gone.

[robinlynne]

55. My husband died of a heart attack because he was young.

Apparently as you grow older membranes develop, which protect you, i.e.you have a better chance of living through a heart attack after a certain age.
but I thought 50 was the age...

[alphafemale]

40. I thought he was way older than 51.

Sad.

[Honeycombe8]

60. I saw him last year in "Killing Them Softly" (a Mat McConaughy movie). He looked very unhealthy.

Hard to know how unhealthy he was supposed to look for the role and how much was him.

[Cooley Hurd]

28. They are reporting this....

Goddamn it.

[AgingAmerican]

6. I don't believe it

He isn't coming up dead on google.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Neither do I

TMZ has been wrong many times in the past

[sagat]

7. They whacked him.

[RebelOne]

26. Who is they? n/t

[sagat]

32. Greasy food.

[Logical]

39. Idiot statement. Why is some idiot always making a joke about dying. n-t

[Auggie]

41. Inappropriate response. Should be hidden.

[JI7]

12. hopefully it's one of those fake new zealand type stories

[DainBramaged]

13. WHAT

[Cali_Democrat]

14. Yep, it's true

he died.

RIP

[Cooley Hurd]

17. ...and your source?

[SoCalDem]

20. CNN is reporting it.. has been for a while they say heart attack probably

[The Straight Story]

21. HBO has confirmed according to Variety

HBO reps confirm death of 'The Sopranos' star James Gandolfini at age 51 - @Variety

[maddezmom]

29. Here is a other link

James Gandolfini dead at 51
'The Sopranos' star suffered a massive heart attack in Italy, source tells the Daily News.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-dead-51-article-1.1377435#ixzz2WhzxTF3q

[Ohio Joe]

15. Very sad... RIP - nt

[zappaman]

19. Unfortunately...true.

Sucks.

[TDale313]

23. Very sad. n/t

[femmocrat]

24. HuffPo is reporting it too:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead_n_3468861.html

And NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-dead-51-article-1.1377435

[pokerfan]

43. And the NY Daily News...

Shocking...
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-dead-51-article-1.1377435

[maddezmom]

25. Oh no

. I was hoping it wasn't true but looks like he is gone.

James Gandolfini dead at 51
'The Sopranos' star suffered a massive heart attack in Italy, source tells the Daily News.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-dead-51-article-1.1377435#ixzz2WhzxTF3q

[Glimmer of Hope]

27. Oh no. One of the most memorable TV characters ever.

[CrispyQ]

30. "True Romance" the scene with Gandolfini & Patricia Arquette . . .

soooooo good!

[pacalo]

35. I was proud of her spunk. Surprising outcome, wasn't it.

[CrispyQ]

68. It was such an excellent movie!

The scene between Christopher Walken & Dennis Hopper was Academy Award worthy. Ha! Gandolfini was in that scene, too! And Gary Oldman, I didn't even recognize him. Oldman, an incredibly under rated actor, who deserves an Academy, too, imo.

[pacalo]

71. I'm a big fan of Gary Oldman. I agree that he's underrated.

[Cooley Hurd]

34. motherfucker...

[Auggie]

37. James Gandolfini helped to make one of the most iconic characters ever. It was magical.

[R B Garr]

50. This is so very true. I never even watched the Sopranos,

but I always knew who Tony Soprano was. He really brought that character to life. I was impressed with him without being a fan of the show, which I knew I would like, but I didn't get the cable channel it was on.

RIP Mr. Gandolfini. I was so shocked hearing this news that I thought it must be some mistake. So young.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

67. Iconic and REAL.

Duers who know me know I am Italian and proud of it. I grew up, in Massachusetts, in the world of the Corleones and the Sopranos. I know that there are Italians who want to distance themselves from that ASPECT of the culture, and some who want to DENY it, but the reason I watched every episode of The Sopranos (as well as the Godfather films) multiple times is that I grew up in that world, it was real to me, these were the people I knew. It's not every Italian you'll meet. It's ME, in many ways, because I carry myself that way and speak that way, and when I get around fellow Italians, we ALWAYS lean into it.

Around the time of the second season of The Sopranos, TV Guide paid a group of six or so New Jersey "wiseguys" to sit down and critique the show. They said it was as real as rain, and that the ONLY thing that wouldn't have rung true is that Michael Imperioli's "Christopher" character would have been "one for the trunk"...meaning despite his relationship to Tony, he as such a pain in the ass that no one would have put up with him, they would have "vanished" him, so to speak.

R.I.P., Mr. Gandolfini. You are missed.

[one_voice]

44. I loved him in the Sopranos...

and before that in True Romance...he was a good actor. RIP

[libodem]

46. That is rotten news

Dammit! I wanted him to play Tony in the movie version of the Sopranos. I watched every episode and loved it.

[LittleBlue]

47. RIP Tony Soprano, one of the best characters in TV history

[markiv]

65. + 1,000,000

[xchrom]

48. Wonderful actor - gone too soon.

May Peace be with his family and friends.

[BobbyBoring]

51. RIP Tony

Off to that Big BADABOOM in the sky

[47of74]

52. RIP James

[blueknight]

53. and yet

the no good,fucking war monger cheney lives on. fuck karma, it does'nt exist

[sad-cafe]

66. too true

sadly

[Liberal_in_LA]

54. wow. rip

[uponit7771]

56. rip no doubt

[spanone]

61. hard to believe he was only 51

[fishwax]

63. that's sad news

[markiv]

64. sad the man in the members only jacket caught up with him so young

hope i'm not coming across as glib, i'm referencing his work of art, that will stand at the top of all time for tv, perhaps for the next 100 years

an outstanding character, that i'm sure he drew from himself greatly

RIP, James, thanks for the entertainment

[Skinner]

69. This came as such a shock. So sad.

Can't believe he was only 51.