THE LATE JAMES GANDOLFINI WAS NOT ALWAYS THE POWERFUL, A BALDING MAN WHOM THE WORLD LOVED FOR HIS ROLE AS A ROUTINE BUT SENSITIVE GANGSTER IN THE SOPRANO CLAN
Legendary for his role as the unfaithful but loyal Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini was no less energetic in his younger years — long before he embodied the mysterious, violent sociopath on screen.
Born on 18 September 1961, James Gandolfini became widely known as the charming but formidable mafia boss and family patriarch in the cult HBO series The Sopranos.
His Tony Soprano, who was both touching and vulnerable on the one hand, and sociopathic and ruthless on the other, became one of the most complex and recognisable roles in television history. This iconic role earned Gandolfini numerous awards and international recognition.
Speaking about his character, James Gandolfini once told Vogue: ‘I play an Italian madman from New Jersey, and that’s basically who I am.’
After an incredibly successful six-season run, the series ended in 2007, leaving fans wondering whether the black screen at the end meant that the antihero was alive or dead.
Tragedy in Rome
However, along with the legendary actor, the elder Soprano also ‘passed away’ on 19 June 2013, when a heart attack took the life of the 51-year-old favourite of the public.
The New Jersey-born actor was in Italy with his family and was staying at a hotel with his 13-year-old son Michael when he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Gandolfini is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, whom he married in 2008, his daughter Lillian (born in 2012) and his son Michael, whom he raised with his first wife Marcy Wudarski.
Almost 10 years later, Michael landed the role of a lifetime, playing the young Tony Soprano in the film The Saints of Newark.
In September 2021, Michael told The New York Times in an interview how he tried to convey the complexity of the character his father so effortlessly embodied on screen.
‘I always thought, “I want my father to be proud of me. I want my father to be proud of me,”’ said the then 22-year-old actor. He continued, ‘I didn’t really realise his legacy… To me, Dad was just my dad.’
Although it sounds like a cliché, Michael is indeed very similar to his father in many ways. He inherited many of his father’s physical and character traits: the same slightly sleepy but captivating eyes, the menacing smirk and the soft voice interspersed with colourful expressions.
‘The pressure was real,’ he said of what it was like to play a young mob boss. ‘It wasn’t just because of my father — Tony Soprano is an incredibly complex character in his own right.’
‘The ultimate charmer’
Before Gandolfini earned the three Emmy Awards and Golden Globe that now adorn his mantelpiece, he was an ordinary Italian-American boy who grew up in a working-class family in a modest home in Westwood, New Jersey.
His father was the head of maintenance at a Catholic school, and his mother worked as a cook in the school cafeteria. He was a ‘happy, sweet boy,’ as described by his childhood friend Pam Donlan, who later became one of Hollywood’s most respected actors.
In 1979, the young man, who was just over 6 feet tall (about 183 cm), was a senior at Park Ridge High School in New Jersey, where he was one of the most popular students.
Excelling in both his studies and extracurricular activities, the future star of the film Get Shorty began to develop his acting skills while still in school, where he studied theatre arts.
It was during these years that the future star of Where the Wild Things Are met John Travolta, whose father owned a shop that Gandolfini Sr. frequented.
‘My father sold tyres to his father,’ Travolta said after Gandolfini’s death. ‘I was his inspiration to go into the acting business… He saw my photos from the films on the wall and decided he wanted to be an actor.’
Before heading to Rutgers University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, Gandolfini celebrated his senior year of high school. His classmates voted him ‘most handsome’ and, unsurprisingly, ‘biggest flirt.’
A Facebook post by the Park Ridge community featured an old photo of a young Gandolfini with a woman named Donna Lange. In the photo, they were both labelled ‘school flirts.’
‘I [love] this photo of Jimmy and Donna… I always remember him as such a happy guy with that killer smile,’ writes one old friend. ‘This is an amazing photo of Jim and Donna,’ adds another.
Meanwhile, Duff Lambros remembers his childhood friend as a man with ‘quiet confidence’ and ‘calm dignity.’ He said, ‘The girls loved him. The boys loved him.’
The friend adds: ‘When he smiled, it wasn’t just a smile — he smiled with his eyes. It was like the sun was shining.’
Travolta, who shared the screen with Gandolfini in several films, remembers his longtime family friend as a great man not only as an actor but also in his personal life. ‘He was a man for people first and foremost, and then everything else,’ Travolta said. ‘He was a wonderful man, and I loved him very much.’ .
Despite Tony Soprano’s imposing presence, Gandolfini displayed remarkable humility and dedication to his craft. He humorously referred to himself as the ‘260-pound Woody Allen,’ emphasising his simplicity and unpretentiousness despite the iconic image he embodied on screen.
What are your favourite memories of James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano or in his other roles? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to share this story so we can hear what others think!
