James Gandolfini Dead in Italy at 51

By Cynthia Herbert :: 7:45 PM

James Gandolfini, the actor who played Tony Soprano on the popular HBO series The Sopranos has died at age 51.

Gandolfini suffered a heart attack while traveling in Italy to attend the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.

He first rose to fame playing the role of a hitman in the 1993 film “True Romance.” He was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999, and went on to win 3 Emmy awards for that role across the show’s 6 season run.