James Gandolfini Dead at 51

[Duran Man]

http://www.thestar.com/entertainmen...pranos_actor_james_gandolfini_dead_at_51.html

Wow. R.I.P.

James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO’s The Sopranos helped create 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.

 

[NickNitro]

It's just soo sad that he's younger than my dad.....this ****s soo scary.

 

[zeroapoc]

He was younger than my dad by 20 years.

Way too young for a great actor to go.

 

[Warhammer]

That was so sudden. Tomorrow isn't promised.

 

[Marvolo]

Another great actor gone way too early. RIP

 

[Spider-Aziz]

He's younger than I thought, he kinda looks 50 in The Last Castle
Rest in Peace (to honor Sawyer's thread a bit, no acronym)

 

[runawayboulder]

I've been watching a ton of stuff on him today and I didn't realize how bad his demons were. He had battled addiction at one point. It sounded eerily similar to how Heath Ledger would lose himself in the character of the Joker, Gandolfini was the same with Tony Soprano. He was so different than the character of Tony so much in real life that he had to go into a real dark, twisted mindset. You have to wonder if it put such a strain on him mentally that it took years off his life.....?

 

[runawayboulder]

I wish we could post some clips of his work to remember him by but unfortunately his body of work isn't the type of subject matter that the Hype allows. Any Youtube links posted would surely give the mods a conniption fit. Perhaps they can have a heart for a few days and would let us bend the rules slightly....?

Anyway, some of my favorite Gandolfini work was:

1) His scenes in True Romance including his brawl with Patricia Arquette and his brief screen time shared with Brad Pitt.

2) 8MM when he is beaten by Nic Cage.

And as Tony Soprano:

1) His fatal confrontation with Ralph over Pie O My.

2) Tony flipping out on Richie Aprile at the country club before passing out.

3) The ending to the episode of "In Camelot" as he falsely describes his father comare to the other guys at the Bing. The look on his face at the end was brilliant work.

4) And lastly my all time favorite scene. In the episode "Amour Fou", after Jackie Jr's botched card game robbery, a furious Christopher blasts Tony for not immediately wanting to take out Jackie Jr and telling him he's a hypocrite, resulting in one of Tony's greatest lines ever on the show...."You don't love me anymore then that breaks my heart but it's too f***ing bad because you don't have to love me....but you WILL respect me."


Brilliant work that forever changed how a male lead should be measured against on any TV drama.

 

[DarkSentinel]

I pray that the Valar see fit to return him to us as James Gandolfini the White. I mean that in respect (and pun, of course) not in disrespect. Too soon to go for that man

 

[lime]

Gets a Honorary Award at the Golden Europe Awards

http://kino-mania.com/james-gandolfini-receives-honorary-award-from-the-golden-europe-critics/

 

[Schlosser85]

He has one last movie, Animal Rescue, with Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace, out next year.

 

[zeroapoc]

I'm watching a rebroadcast of him on Inside the Actor's Studio right now.

It just reminds me how much this sucks.

 

[runawayboulder]

Yeah, for me this is a bad one....just like Phil Hartman and Chris Farley. I still miss those guys to this day. I'll feel the same about Gandolfini in another 20yrs. This is the same thing for me as to what guys like Elvis and John Lennon were to my parents.

 

[Ultimatehero]

RIP. Watching Burt Wonderstone and it's really striking that he's sadly gone.