James Gandolfini, Sopranos Star, Dead at 51

NEW YORK: James Gandolfini, best known for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano in HBO’s The Sopranos, died yesterday while vacationing in Italy of a possible heart attack.

The New Jersey-born Gandolfini became a household name from his turn in The Sopranos, which ran from 1999 to 2007. The role earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series three times. His other credits have included films such as True Romance, Get Shorty and Where the Wild Things Are. He also produced the 2007 documentary Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq and the 2010 doc Warton: 1861-2010.

The actor died suddenly while in Italy. He had been scheduled to make an appearance at the Taormina Film Fest in Sicily this week. Gandolfini was 51.