Friday 21 June 2013
The Sopranos star James Gandolfini died following a heart attack, an autopsy has confirmed.
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The Sopranos star
James Gandolfini died following a heart attack, an autopsy has confirmed.
Family friend Michael
Kobold told a news discussion the actor died of usual causes and that
"nothing was found in his system".
He added his body had
been released to a funeral director and plans were being made to repatriate him
to the US.
Gandolfini had been on
holiday in Italy, where he had been due to receive an award at the Taormina
Film fair.
"James came here
on vacation meeting his family. He had a magnificent day - he visited the
Vatican, he had dinner at the hotel with his son, until the arrival of his
sister," Mr Kobold read out in a report from Gandolfini's family.
"We are all
devastated by this loss. James was a devoted husband, a loving father of two
children and a brother and cousin you could always count on."
Mr Kobold added, even
though it can take up to 10 days in Italy to absolute the necessary paperwork
to repatriate the body, it was hoped the process could be shortened to return
Gandolfini to the US by next Thursday.
He added he hoped a memorial
service would take place in New York by next Saturday.
Earlier, a hospital
spokesman said doctors and paramedics spent 40 minutes trying to save the star
after he was found in the bathroom of his Rome hotel room and taken to the
Policlinico Umberto I hospital.
Dr Claudio Modini told
Reuters that as attempts to resuscitate Gandolfini in the ambulance and
hospital had failed, he was considered dead on arrival.
"The
resuscitation manoeuvres, including heart massage, continued for 40 minutes and
then, seeing no electric activity from the heart, this was interrupted and we
declared James dead," Dr Modini said.
Under Italian law,
medical examiners are required to conduct a post-mortem 24 hours after the
body's arrival in the morgue.
Taormina Film Festival
organisers Mario Sesti and Tiziana Rocca said they were "deeply
saddened" by Gandolfini's death.
Brad Pitt: "I'm
going to miss him dearly and I just wish his family some strength"
"We had heard
from James Gandolfini a few hours before and he was very happy to receive this
award and to be able to travel to Italy," they said in a statement.
"He was the American
actor that better than anyone else has been able to interpret the
Italian-American with his personality full of contrasts, ambition, pain,
humour. He was the face of the golden age of television, but also a memorable
film actor."
They added they would
be organising a tribute to his "career and talent".
Meanwhile, Hollywood
stars have continued to pay tribute to the actor.
Kathryn Bigelow, who
directed Gandolfini in Zero Dark Thirty, said she was devastated by the news.
"James was such
an enormous talent, and an even greater spirit. I will be forever grateful for
the privilege of working with him, and shall cherish his memories always,"
she said.
Brad Pitt, who
appeared in three films with Gandolfini, called him "a ferocious
actor" and said he was "gutted by this loss".
At the time of his
death, the actor had been working on upcoming HBO series Criminal Justice, and
had two films due out next year - the comedy Enough Said and crime drama Animal
Rescue.
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