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Rediff.com  » Movies » Sopranos actor James Gandolfini passes away at 51
This article was first published 10 years ago

Sopranos actor James Gandolfini passes away at 51

Last updated on: June 20, 2013 15:31 IST

Image: James Gandolfini
Photographs: Mario Anzuoni/ REUTERS

Here's what your favourite Hollywood stars have been up to.

Triple Emmy Award-winning actor James Gandolfini, best known for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano on The Sopranos, passed away, aged 51.
 
Gandolfini died after a suspected heart attack in Italy, where he was to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. He was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino, reported TMZ Online.
 
'It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy. 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,' Gandolfini's management said in a statement.
 
He is survived by his wife Deborah Lin and his son Michael, from his previous marriage with Marcy Wudarski.
 
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 three Emmy awards for the role during the show's six season run.
 
Actress Olivia Wilde, Steve Carell, Russell Crowe and Jonah Hill are some of the celebrities who are mourning the death of the actor.
 
Joseph R Gannascoli, his co-star on The Sopranos, said, 'James is one guy who never turned his back on me. He was the
most humble and gifted actor and person I have ever worked with. He was a great man and I will forever be indebted to him.'
 
Other fellow celebrities have flooded Twitter with messages to express their grief.
 
Wilde wrote, 'James Gandolfini was a kind, funny, wonderful guy. I'm so lucky to have worked with him. Sending love to his family.'

'Such a sad, sad day,' Carell tweeted, adding, ''James Gandolfini. Unbelievably sad news. A fine man.'
 
Hill admitted, 'I'm truly heartbroken to hear that James Gandolfini has passed away. He is one of my all time favorite actors. Tragic loss.'

Christina Applegate posted, 'I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini! My heart is broken for his family!! I'm in shock.'

Brad Pitt's son Maddox makes acting debut in World War Z

Image: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Maddox Jolie-Pitt
Photographs: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Superstar Brad Pitt has revealed that his 11-year-old son Maddox has made a cameo appearance in Marc Forster's apocalypse movie World War Z.
 
The actor reveals his son gets shot in the head multiple times in the movie.
 
The father of six, who takes on the role of Gerry Lane in his new film, said his son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, made a cameo appearance in it without telling what role the 11-year-old boy landed.
 
'He gets shot in the head... multiple times. But he gets double tapped,' Pitt said of Maddox, before joking, 'I don't know what that says about me as a parent.'
 
The Golden Globe winner, who agreed to do the apocalypse feature because of his boys, said both Maddox and nine-year-old
Pax have already seen it and they love it.
 
World War Z will arrive in theatres this Friday. Based on Max Brook's horror novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, it sees Pitt's character in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic.

Helen Mirren

Image: Helen Mirren
Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters
Veteran British actress Helen Mirren poses as she attends a party to celebrate Britain's Queen Elizabeth's birthday in Shanghai on June 19.

John Goodman and Billy Crystal

Image: John Goodman and Billy Crystal
Photographs: Danny Moloshok/Reuters
Actors John Goodman and Billy Crystal pose for a portrait while promoting the animated film Monsters University in Beverly Hills, California.

It has been over a decade since the two top scarers 'Mike' and 'Sulley' first proved that things that go bump in the night can be cuddly and adorable too as Pixar returns once more with a prequel following the creatures from the first film during their formative years in college.