James John Gandolfini (Italian: [ɡandolˈfiːni]; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American mafia crime boss in HBO's television series The Sopranos (1999–2007). For this role, he won three Primetime Emmy Awards, five Actor Awards, and one Golden Globe Award. His role as Tony Soprano is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential performances in television history. Gandolfini was featured in numerous films including True Romance (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), A Civil Action (1998), The Last Castle (2001), Romance & Cigarettes (2005), All the King's Men (2006), In the Loop (2009), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Not Fade Away (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and The Drop (2014). He received acclaim for playing against type while starring in the romantic comedy Enough Said (2013). For the role, he earned numerous critics' awards including an Actor Award nomination. Gandolfini is also known for his roles on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire (1992), On the Waterfront (1995), and God of Carnage (2009), the latter earning him a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He also produced the war documentaries Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (2007) and Wartorn: 1861–2010 (2011) as well as the HBO film Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. (Via Wikipedia)