Talk:James Gandolfini

Other films?
I worked on at least one film with him that predates most of his filmography. It was a short. Do such things get added to the list? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.40.64.122 (talk) 21:52, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, if there's a bona fide way of documenting it; a reference to which one may link. If you don't know how to do it, I can help you. Lemmee know. Gregg L. DesElms (Username: Deselms) (talk) 08:42, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

A one sentence article?
Is someone currently working on an article? I find it hard to believe that I love Jb ace article while many far more obscure actors have more in-depth articles.207.127.128.2 22:43, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

The original article was deleted several hours ago by User:Shimgray, god knows why (edit summary: (temp delete to sort out personal information, etc). I can't see a sign of what that could be anywhere. --Calton | Talk 05:54, 2 February 2007 (UTC)


 * It had been vandalised along with a string of other articles with personal information in the history; I was doing history deletions on them all, to remove the offending edits, but it looks like I slipped up on restoring this one afterwards! My profuse apologies - I'll be more careful in future to make sure they get replaced. Shimgray | talk | 11:18, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

This is indicative of what's wrong with Wikipedia. An editor makes an honest mistake - here deleting an article to reformulate it -, is forced to hear whining, apologies and then get no acceptance of said apology. All while trying to make Wikipedia better! How about some courtesy? 172.167.115.67 05:53, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Looks decent now. Aaron Bowen 07:13, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Could use a better screenshot to respresent him on the Sopranos though. Aaron Bowen 13:57, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Welcome to the infamy of Wikipedia where access is easy as are the mistakes. Too many with too little post on Wikipedia only to discover that they should not have posted - regardless. Spenser - The Unknown (talk) 21:34, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

Article is a mess
This article contains any number of questionable claims completely without sources. It had the wrong name ('Santa' no less) for Gandolfini's mother continuously for more than a year and his father's name was wrong more often than it was right in the same timeframe. Please start adding sources for information in this article so that this kind of nonsense can be checked and contained. --CBD 23:35, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

This article is being heavily vandalized.


 * I've rolled it back to edits of the 1st and semiprotected it for a short while. Shimgray | talk | 17:20, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * There are three different references in this article to his playing a hitman in The Mexican. It is redundant at best, and needs to be cleaned up, especially to remove the redundant statements. ChÿnaDragön 23:13, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
 * The trivia section has been removed, the article needs expansion badly though. Aaron Bowen 17:14, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Alive Day Memories
Would something like this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0933877/) be relevant enough to add. Since he was the producer, and also appeared in the movie as the interviewer. I have no skill in working on articles, other then the occasional small edit, so if someone would know a good way to put this in, feel free too. Capgun2713 (talk) 20:32, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Assessment comments
''These have been moved here from a subpage as part of a cleanup process. See Discontinuation of comments subpages.''

Needs expansion. Aaron Bowen 23:33, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

No mention of The Sopranos?
In the header, it lists what he is best known for. Why isn't The Sopranos listed? I would argue that he is better known for his role of Tony Soprano over any of those others listed. I scanned the article and I didn't even see a mention of his role in that show.

Unsigned (Sorry, I don't have an account.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.105.137.193 (talk) 20:10, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Issue with Personal life
Someone needs to fix the "He died today" at the end of his personal life. Gramatically terrible and doesn't look good at all.

2605:6000:100C:4045:C422:8811:33B8:C97 (talk) 00:09, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * The sentence "He died today" is grammatically perfect, though it lacks detail. — O'Dea  (talk) 06:19, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

His death
There is a minor mistake in this paragraph: it says that the ambulance arrived at 10,40 pm at the hotel but the linked article as well as an interview with the chief of the ER say that was the time of arrival at the hospital. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.220.81.141 (talk) 09:41, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

" Sesti said that the ceremony will now become a tribute to Ganfolfini's life and body of work " Bold and emphasis is mine. Someone please fix that mispelling, and make it snappy. I'd do it, but of course the article is locked. 71.102.11.209 (talk) 19:26, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

The structure on the subject of his death is in present tense and is not properly strustured. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.86.181.194 (talk) 00:13, 20 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Everything's now fixed; and additional details are now provided. Gregg L. DesElms (Username: Deselms) (talk) 00:59, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

There's a minor issue with death date and age. Addict 2006 23:39, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Why does it state he died on June 20th when today is June 19th? The 20th isn't here yet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.251.112.134 (talk) 00:52, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * He died in Italy, which is in a later time zone where it already is June 20. oknazevad (talk) 01:14, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * None of the sources I have seen indicate it was June 20 in Italy when he passed away. Rome is only six hours ahead of North American Eastern Time. Taroaldo    ✉   01:22, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * The earliest news report I've noticed would have been 1:22 AM in Rome. That would allow for the possibility he died on the 20th depending of how quickly his death was reported.  Dragons flight (talk) 02:52, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

--- NOTE: 2013 - 1961 = 52 not 51 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.15.232.101 (talk) 09:42, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, but if you were born september 18 last year, you would not today be one year old (despite 2013-2012=1). He was 51 and a bit. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:04, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Eulogizing

 * For what it's worth, my work, finished a little before I posted, above, at 00:59, 20 June 2013 (UTC), set the date as June 19th, which is correct. I notice that someone has come along after me and done an excellent job of replacing the Chicago tribune reference.  Cool.  However, the sentences, "[t]he Sopranos creator David Chase called Gandolfini 'a genius' and 'his partner and brother'", and "[n]ew Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he was 'a New Jersey treasure'" begin to cross the line into eulogizing; and while I actually, personally, don't mind Wikipedia articles doing that at least a little, I remember getting kinda' yelled at a little about doing in the Roger Ebert article.  So, should we all kinda' come to some agreement, right now, about whether we're going to cross that line, and how far across it we should go?  Just askin' Gregg L. DesElms (Username: Deselms) (talk) 03:25, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * A very few actors transcend their roles and come to stand for something more in the culture. Not only Bogart and Monroe, but lesser lights like Mary Tyler Moore or Johnny Carson. I'd take a guess that Gandolfini as Tony Soprano put New Jersey on the American map-- perhaps? Many people are going to try to articulate what Gandolfini meant to American culture in the next few days and I think it all belongs, this time. It's not eulogizing. It's theorizing about how he came to be so much larger than the role and stand for something. For what, exactly, has to be discussed. Profhum (talk) 06:06, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * People like James Gandolfini (and Roger Ebert for that matter) have had an notable impact on a great number of people. It is not eulogizing to articulate what significance these individuals have had in their fields, and what they have meant to their fellow citizens. Taroaldo    ✉   06:41, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Quotes paying tribute to his impact as an actor could be acceptable. But personal tributes are not. "Treasure", "partner and brother" and "utterly heartbroken" are best left in entertainment news. InedibleHulk (talk) 14:07, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Was he still married at time of death? -- articles mention no wife Skysong263 (talk) 19:02, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I hear that he was recently married and a father of a one-year old (I've yet to peruse the article), though I might be wrong. Not to be a troll, but I doubt I saw 3 episodes of the Sopranos. He was an Italian-American acquainted with a popular Italian-American stereotype who helped to perpetuate that popular Italian-American stereotype. Like the Godfather, A Bronx Tale, or the like, the Sopranos was likely pro-Mafia; let me guess: he was a family man, he was essentially good, he only hurt people who had it coming. He was like Arnold Schwarzenegger playing muscleman roles or Alec Guinness playing snotty aristocrats. (Mind you, to be a bit more positive, his name also makes me think of Gandalf.) Edie Falco likely had more range and was more heroic in health matters—how much did Gandolfini weigh? Pity Slim Whitman will likely get a small fraction of the accolades. Gandolfini's death is tragic and condolences are due those close to him, but for me, I could name +40 actors right now that I’d prefer or who might be better.  Btw, in Category talk:American people of Italian descent by occupation someone raised the issue of why aren’t there sub-categories for actors. This would, at least, be something that he’d be entitled to.Civic Cat (talk) 19:15, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I haven't watched many more episodes of the show either, and frankly your comment should be stricken as it's not related to the article, but reading what you just wrote makes me hope you do not take this approach to actually writing articles:
 * "he was a family man..." Hardly; the show regularly showed him carrying on with other women, to the point that he and Carmela had some nasty fights about it (and she tried to divorce him at one point).
 * "he was essentially good..." Not really, either. He had his virtues, but as one friend of mine who watched the show said, almost everything Tony says is a lie. You kept watching because very often Gandolfini could make you believe Tony despite all the other times.
 * "he only hurt people who had it coming." Sometimes he seemed to kill people because he felt like it.
 * We do have an article you could have read (a little too in-universe, but that's another issue). Daniel Case (talk) 00:03, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Your hope is not in vain, as I would not edit this article without giving it its deserved consideration. As for my comment not being related to the article, the heading was eulogizing, there seemed to be much of it going on, perhaps too much I wondered, and might turn it into a POV. Correct me if I'm wrong, but those who watch the Sopranos are more likely to regard it and its actors more favourably than those who don't. A few might even assume that more people watch than they really do. Perhaps I figured that my comment would counter that a bit. Also many family men cheat--such as Bill Clinton and I'm sure Hilary considered divorce. But the family was/is too important. My presumption is that the show portrayed Tony as essentially was good because if you didn't mess with him, he didn't mess with you, and there is also the Noble lie.Civic Cat (talk) 00:00, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Given that we already have Category:American film directors of Italian descent.Civic Cat (talk) 20:42, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * He was a replica of character so thoroughly depicted in "The Godfather". Not all immigrants came from "The Boot". Instead, many came from the waist and the head of Italy.  My family came from Milano. Many Italians protested "The Godfather" and the "God-like" reverence of the "Mafia". The Mafia was and continues to be a "Blight" upon Italian Americans - American Italians. He was stereotypical because he played the typical manifestations of what the world knows as an Italian. Spenser - The Unknown (talk) 21:39, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

Little typo
Hey, can someone please go ahead and fix the last name in the death section? It currently fucking reads Ganfolfini. Thank you :)


 * Done. AndyTheGrump (talk)

Edit request: add his two older sisters please
James has 2 older sisters Johanna and Leandra(called Leta).

change this
 * Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey. His mother, Santa, a high school lunch lady, was born in the USA of Italian ancestry and raised in Naples, Italy. His father, James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a native of Borgotaro, Italy, was a bricklayer and cement mason and was later the head custodian at Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey. James, Sr. earned a Purple Heart in World War II. Gandolfini's parents were devout Roman Catholics and spoke Italian at home. Due to the influence of his parents, Gandolfini developed a strong sense of being Italian and regularly visited Italy.

to this
 * Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey. His mother, Santa, a high school lunch lady, was born in the USA of Italian ancestry and raised in Naples, Italy. His father, James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a native of Borgotaro, Italy, was a bricklayer and cement mason and was later the head custodian at Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey. James, Sr. earned a Purple Heart in World War II. Gandolfini's parents were devout Roman Catholics and spoke Italian at home. Due to the influence of his parents, Gandolfini developed a strong sense of being Italian and regularly visited Italy. . James is the middle child of two sisters: older sister Johanna and younger sister Leta. Johanna Antonacci --married to Edward Antonacci-- is the manager of the Family Division of Superior Court in Hackensack. Leta M. Gandolfini is the president at Sunrise Brands (formerly Tarrant Apparel Group). Thank You 71.191.244.33 (talk) 03:59, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia policy is generally to avoid discussing relatives of biographical subjects in any depth - and not to name them at all without reliable sourcing: see WP:BLPNAME. AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:24, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

You dont have to discuss them but do state them. Him having sisters is part of his life. He isnt on purpose keeping his bio info secret like Vin Diezel is with his parents/twin sibling/ and kids. James mentioned his sisters on his Inside The Actor's Studio.

Here is source for older sis Johanna : http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-james-gandolfini-20130620,0,4235775.story?page=2.

Here is source for younger sis Leta : http://articles.philly.com/2013-06-20/news/40095867_1_james-gandolfini-brass-band-tony-soprano. Thank You. 71.191.244.33 (talk) 10:22, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * The sisters aren't notable enough to even mention. Many people have siblings. Nasnema Chat  10:35, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Siblings should be stated, where reliably sourced, even if they are not notable. Siblings are or were a significant part of most people's lives, and thus relevant to their biography. The brother-in-law should not be mentioned. Jim Michael (talk) 12:52, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Just a question of editors more experienced with biographies. How much detail is enough about siblings and what is too much? Is mentioning that he had two sisters enough? Is giving personal details about the life (and line of work) of the siblings too much detail?--Gciriani (talk) 13:45, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Details about the lives of non-notable siblings should not be included; names and birth years is sufficient. If the birth years are not known, state how many there are and the birth order. It is usual to state these things in the Early life section, as they are a major part of most people's early lives. Jim Michael (talk) 18:48, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * "Middle child with two siblings" is fine. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 19:39, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * "Leta M. Gandolfini is the president at Sunrise Brands (formerly Tarrant Apparel Group)." This sounds like a plug for the business and is totally unnecessary.Dg2727 (talk) 23:34, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Possible sources
Gandolfini and his relationship with his most famous character are discussed in a GQ article: Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 13:19, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
 * The Night Tony Soprano Disappeared by Brett Martin, GQ July 2013
 * The article is an excerpt from new book by Brett Martin (Penguin Press 2013): Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution, from "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" to "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad"

Bad hyperlink
Why is the phrase "woman-beating" piped to "domestic violence"? This implies that

1. Women are only ever assaulted in their homes,

and that

2. Only women can suffer from domestic violence.

Here's a link to the relevant part of the style guide: MOS:PIPE In my opinion, the usage of piped linking I've mentioned above is not an appropriate one. Given the self-explanatory nature of the term "woman-beating", I'm not sure this needs a hyperlink at all, but if it does, it should link to Violence against women: Gandolfini's character in True Romance, a mafia enforcer, tortures a woman for information, not in the context of domestic abuse. As such, the domestic violence association is not accurate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by YarLucebith (talk • contribs) 03:06, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I've unlinked the term as it's self-explanatory as you pointed out. -- Neil N   talk to me  03:14, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

Prior health/heart issues/history
The bio states that he died of a heart attack. Was there any history of this?, or prior issues?, or was this out of the blue? I suppose his weight was a known health risk, but had he been warned??? If anybody knows and can add this, it would be appreciated - it is what I came to this Wikipedia bio for. Thanks.Betathetapi545 (talk) 13:04, 14 November 2014 (UTC)


 * It was apparently common knowledge on the set he had a problem with alcohol and drugs while on the show, I’m just not sure mentioning it would go against WP guidelines.—Chimino (talk) 03:43, 11 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I might add a section in the personal life one more info comes out about this, as it looks like one of the showrunners will be delving in detail in a book. LegalSmeagolian (talk) 17:59, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

James Gandolfini played Jessie in American Story-The Battle for Athens, 1946 Athens, Tennessee
[copied from Wikipedia talk:Be bold]

Just finished watching American Story-The Battle of Athens. Playing the role of a disabled WW2 veteran, Jessie, just back from the European front. Jessie is James Gandolfini(of Soprano's fame). Nowhere on his wikipedia page does it list his role in this film. His name also wasn't in the final credits, which is quite strange as he played a significant role in the film. Here is a YouTube video of the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c-Dsg4X4Dk&feature=youtu.be  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.209.166.175 (talk) 04:25, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
 * The correct place to post this comment is Talk:James Gandolfini. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:50, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

The top page pic of Gandolfini is so desaturated, whose decision was that
The desaturated picture fills me with melancholy and there’s no reason for the picture to be desaturated, I’m on mobile and I don’t know my way around wikipedia, so if anyone can revert the pic with its original unsaturated colors or another one that doesnt make me feel bad — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:6C4E:C01:E5B4:1074:6378:A28C:861C (talk) 06:07, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Middle name
It has been brought to my attention by an IP who is changing James Gandolfini's middle name from Joseph to John. He is citing what looks to be used as his prayer card from Heavy which uses John. The NYT source currently on the article says Joseph. Wondering what we think about this discrepancy? Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 22:07, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Pinging GA nominator. Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 23:34, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * , thanks for the ping. I would personally lean towards using the New York Times article that includes his middle name. The prayer card might be doctored or fake so it would be better to use the official NYT obituary. --   LuK3      (Talk)   23:46, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * courtesy pings. Another NYT article contains the very same funeral card with "John" as the middle name, as does Forbes. Also, in a NY Daily News article, a high school yearbook image also gives this middle name. &mdash;Jonny Nixon (talk) 13:21, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I believe the images of the prayers cards, attributed to the people who took them in the caption on those articles, to be sufficient evidence that the middle name is John. I added a note for the case of Joseph. Let me know what you think. Didn't include the Forbes reference due to WP:FORBESCON. Vaselineeeeeeee</b>★★★ 17:05, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

The greatest
I just changed "the greatest" to "a great" in the WP:LEAD:. Opinions? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:49, 19 May 2022 (UTC)


 * The bigger issue is "widely regarded", which is original research. Air<b style="color: green;">corn</b> (talk) 09:02, 19 May 2022 (UTC)


 * it still says "greatest", and not to mention the citation for who called him "the greatest" is David Chase, writer and producer of Sopranos, so not exactly a disinterested party. 2603:8001:D3F0:87E0:0:0:0:1DF6 (talk) 06:58, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
 * in this household, James was da' greatest actor of all time and an American hero. end of story! LegalSmeagolian (talk) 16:12, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

The drop James n hardy
The drop with James and Tom Hardy ... Why isn't it there 74.90.178.22 (talk) 19:36, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Inclusion of drug use and impact on filming of the Sopranos
Thoughts on inclusion of some of the content from this piece? https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-02-07/how-james-gandolfinis-addictions-to-alcohol-and-drugs-caused-chaos-during-filming-of-the-sopranos.html - seems relevant as it likely contributed to his health issues and impacted the main work he is notable for. LegalSmeagolian (talk) 16:14, 20 February 2024 (UTC)