As I’m sure you’ve probably all heard by now, James Gandolfini has died. The presumption right now is heart attack after becoming ill on vacation in Italy. Gandolfini is most famous for playing Tony Soprano on the HBO drama, The Sopranos. I know him more, however, as Colonel Winters, the villain from one of my favorite movies: The Last Castle.
He called himself a 260 lb Woody Allen.
He was a good actor and judging from the anecdotes and stories from Larry King about him last night on CNN, he seemed like a pretty cool guy.
So in honor of a great actor, here is some interesting trivia, thanks to the awesome website IMDB:
-Gandolfini could play both the Trumpet and the Saxophone.
-Gandolfini helped a woman who was being mugged on the streets of New York City in 2001.
-Used to work as a bartender in Manhattan before making it as an actor; also worked as a bouncer.
Condolences to his family, especially since he’s got a teenager and a 1-year-old. He was a good actor in the prime of his career.
~RCS
Richard C. Shaffer 