Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 38

James Gandolfini - Background, The Sopranos years, Filmography

Actor, born in Westwood, New Jersey, USA. He studied at Rutgers University, NJ and the Actors Studio, New York City. He made his film debut in A Stranger Among Us (1992), and later films include Get Shorty (1995), The Mighty (1998), and The Mexican (2001). He became well known for his role as Tony Soprano in the television series The Sopranos (1999– ), for which he received Best Actor Golden Globe (1999) and Emmy (2000, 2001, 2003) awards.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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)
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