James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor and producer best known for his role as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini was born as the as the youngest child of Santa (née Penna) and James Joseph Gandolfini Sr. in Westwood, New Jersey. He was married twice, to Marcy Wudarski and then to Deborah Lin and he had two children, including actor Michael Gandolfini.
Gandolfini sadly died suddenly in 2013 from a heart attack while on vacation in Rome.
Film Roles
- The Last Boy Scout as Marcone's Henchman
- A Stranger Among Us as Tony Baldessari
- Money For Nothing for Billy Coyle
- True Romance as Virgil
- Mr Wonderful as Mike
- Terminal Velocity as Ben Pinkwater/Stefan
- Crimson Tide as Lt. Bobby Dougherty
- Get Shorty as Bear
- The Juror as Eddie
- 12 Angry Men (1997) as Juror #6
- The Mexican as Winston Baldry
- The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) as "Big Dave" Brewster
- The Last Castle as Colonel Winter
- Surviving Christmas as Tom Valco
- In the Loop as Lt. General George Miller
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three as Mayor of New York
- Where the Wild Things Are as Carol
- Welcome to the Rileys as Doug Riley
- Not Fade Away as Pat Damiano
- Zero Dark Thirty as CIA Director Leon Panetta
- The Incredible Burt Wonderstone as Doug Munny
- Enough Said as Albert
- The Drop as Cousin Marv (Final Film Role)
Television Roles
- Gun as Walter Difideli (1 episode)
- The Sopranos as Tony Soprano
- Sesame Street as Himself (1 episode)
- Saturday Night Live as Unidentified New Jersey Resident (1 episode)
Producer
Tropes associated with James Gandolfini include:
- Joisey: He was born and raised in Bergen County, New Jersey.
- Nice Guy: By all accounts, Gandolfini was a friendly, generous, and humble man who his colleagues and friends continue to stress was Tony Soprano's polar opposite.
- Production Posse: He was one of Tony Scott's go to actors, appearing in four of his films.
- Reclusive Artist: He was known as a very private man who was uncomfortable being a celebrity and hated doing interviews, avoiding them as much as he could (his only interview related to The Sopranos being on 60 Minutes in 2005) and generally living a very private life when not acting.
- Shrinking Violet: In sharp contrast to Tony, Gandolfini was known in real life as a very shy and soft-spoken man.
