James Gandolfini

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James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini as Col. Winter (in The Last Castle)
Born	18 September 1961 Westwood, New Jersey
Height	6'1"
Notable roles	Tony Soprano (The Sopranos) Eddie Poole (8MM)

James R. Gandolfini (born September 18, 1961) is an American actor, most famous for his role as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos.

Contents 1 Background 2 Acting career 3 The Sopranos years 4 Trivia 5 Filmography 6 External links

[edit] Background

The son of Italian-Americans James Gandolfini (1935-2005) and Santa Gandolfini (1937-1992), he was exposed to acting while a young man living in New York City when he accompanied a friend to an acting class.

He was born in Westwood, New Jersey, grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey, graduated from Park Ridge High School, and currently lives in New York City. James holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Rutgers University.

[edit] Acting career

Among some of his more well-known film roles include playing Virgil in 1993 romantic thriller True Romance where he plays a brutal woman-beating mob enforcer. 1994 saw Gandolfini play Ben Pinkwater in Terminal Velocity as nice guy turned Russian mafia leader.

The next two years were busy for Gandolfini as he appeared in three blockbusting movies. First was Crimson Tide where he appeared along side Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, which he would go on to work with both men later on in his career, Washington in 1998 thriller Fallen and Hackman in 2001 comedy The Mexican. In the same year looking a lot different from Crimson Tide Gandolfini returns to play tender bodyguard Bear in Get Shorty.

In 8mm (1999), he played Eddie Poole (based loosely on playboy studio director Darryl F. Zanuck) beaten to death by Nicholas Cage in an abandoned house for being part of a snuff movie in which a young girl was murdered. Other characters he played are the charismatic but ill-fated salesman in The Man Who Wasn't There, an enemy of Robert Redford in The Last Castle, and a homosexual hitman in The Mexican.

[edit] The Sopranos years

Although he acted on Broadway and in various films in the 1990s, Gandolfini's most acclaimed role is that of Tony Soprano, the Mafia boss and family man in the multi-award-winning HBO series The Sopranos, which debuted in 1999. He has won three Emmys for Best Actor in a Drama for his work on the show.

[edit] Trivia

• On May 4, 2006, Gandolfini crashed his Italian scooter into a taxi. Gandolfini was hurt and needed knee surgery. Subsequently, the final episodes of the The Sopranos have been postponed.
• Is typically identified as politically liberal, yet independent. [1] [2]
• Gandolfini was a DJ at New Brunswick, New Jersey night club, the Melody Bar. Another famous record spinner at this bar was Matt Pinfield of MTV (120 Minutes) and now VH1 fame.
• He currently demands 1 million dollars an episode for The Sopranos.
• Has appeared in 3 films with John Travolta.
• His talent agent is Jamie Gold, the reigning 2006 World Series of Poker champion.
• Plays "a mean trumpet" according to NNDB.com.[3]
• His sister Johanna is a prominent official with the New Jersey Family Court system.
• Well trained in Krav Maga, (an Israeli style of Martial Arts) which he practiced for 2 1/2 years.
• Is friends with former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

[edit] Filmography

• The Average Joe Fishing (1987)
• A Stranger Among Us (1992)
• True Romance (1993)
• Money for Nothing (1993)
• Mr. Wonderful (1993)
• Italian Movie (1993)
• Angie (1994)
• Terminal Velocity (1994)
• La Nouveau monde (1995)
• Crimson Tide (1995)
• Get Shorty (1995)
• The Juror (1996)
• Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)
• Gun (1997)
• She's So Lovely (1997)
• 12 Angry Men (1997) TV
• Perdita Durango (1997)
• Gun (1997/II)
• Fallen (1998)
• The Mighty (1998)
• A Civil Action (1998)
• The Sopranos (1999-present)
• 8mm (1999)
• A Whole New Day (1999)
• The Mexican (2001)
• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
• The Last Castle (2001)
• Surviving Christmas (2004)
• Romance and Cigarettes (2005)
• All the King's Men (2006)
• Lonely Hearts (2006)

[edit] External links

• James Gandolfini at the Internet Movie Database
• James Gandolfini at Yahoo! Movies
• The Unofficial Website of James Gandolfini