James Gandolfini the talented actor who became an Icon playing  Tony Soprano in the HBO hit series The Soprano’s died in  Italy  today of an apparent heart attack  He was 51 years old.

Born James J. Gandolfini Jr. on September 18, 1961 in Westwood, New Jersey  Gandolfini became best known for his  role as the troubled, family tormented  Don in the Soprano’s.

Gandolfini had an impressive body of work as an actor dating back to 1987 when he first  played an  orderly in a movie entitled Shock, Shock, Shock.

He debuted on Broadway in  “A Street Car Named Desire in the 1992 revival with actors Jessica Lange and Alex Baldwin.

Gandolfini’s breakthrough role was that of Virgil the gay hitman in Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993)

He since went on to a illustrious career and starred in movies : Angie (1994) Get Shorty (1995) The Last Castle (2001) The Mexican (2001) All the King’s Men (2006) 12 Angry Men (TV movie 1999) and other memorable movies and plays.

Tributes on twitter from famous celebrities all seem to have a common message about Gandolfini that he was a good guy and a marvelous talent that will be sorely missed.

In a interview with James Lipton on Bravo TV’s Actor Studio, Gandolfini  when asked by Lipton  ” What do you want to hear God say when you get to the pearly gates?” Gandolfini answered “Take over for a while , I’ll be right back.”

James Gandolfini leaves a wife- Amanda Lin  and  a one year old son, and a son Michael from a previous marriage .

The post Actor’s Actor James Gandolfini Dies at 51 While on Vacation in Italy first appeared on River View Observer.