Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

T R E 4 5 O N

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / RIP / RIP, James Gandolfini

Reader Interactions

84Comments

  1. 1.

    Bobby Thomson

    Holy crap. Way too young. Playing Tony Soprano literally killed him. (He was beefy in his True Romance days, but he really packed it on while he was playing Tony.)

    Too bad, too. He was a lot more than that but now no one will know it.

  3. 3.

    YellowJournalism

    “The Mexican” wasn’t that great of a movie, but his performance as a gay hit man was pretty great and made the movie better than it would have been. He had more chemistry with Julia Roberts than she and Brad Pitt did!

    Gone too soon.

  6. 6.

    Emerald

    Incredibly versatile actor. We can’t afford to lose actors like him.

    So sad. One of the best.

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Damn. I’d guess as an actor he had the role of a lifetime, and an HBO series was the perfect place to play a role like that.

  10. 10.

    Violet

    Every time I listened to him breathe, I wondered if he had sleep apnea.

    Sleep issues can definitely affect your health and shorten your lifespan. Anyone who thinks they might have sleep apnea owes it to themselves and people who love them to get checked out and take steps to deal with it.

  11. 11.

    YellowJournalism

    @Bobby Thomson: I figured as much, but somehow I think even that modified version would have worked if Julia Roberts hasn’t been involved.

  16. 16.

    terraformer

    Damn, and me and the missus are watching the series again on DVD right now! We’re halfway through season 2. What a great actor, especially in this role.

  18. 18.

    JWL

    Near the end of the Soprano run, a reporter asked him if he was anything like Tony. He laughed, and said something along the lines of, “I’m more like a 260 pound Woody Allen”.

    He was also great in The Mexican, one of those gems of a movie that are somehow overlooked until they’re not. RIP.

  21. 21.

    Melissa

    If you haven’t seen In the Loop, find a way to do so. Good film, great role for him.

  22. 22.

    mouse tolliver

    This has been a bad month for great TV actors. First Edith. Now Tony.

    Guess I’ll have to watch Zero Dark 30 now. Shit.

  23. 23.

    Chat Noir

    @terraformer: Same here. I re-watched the series on DVD back in April/May. Caught stuff and loads of humor on second viewing. Gandolfini and Edie Falco were so awesome in their respective roles. Totally shocked and saddened by the news.

  24. 24.

    Violet

    @Betty Cracker: If you have sleep apnea, you are not getting good, solid deep sleep. Lack of sleep affects everything in your body and can cause all sorts of things to go haywire. It’s a lot bigger problem than people think.

    Obviously there’s a lot of good info about it online so you can read up on it. For a different take, search Andrew Sullivan’s site. Say what you will about him, he did run a really interesting series on it several years ago. Readers wrote in with their stories and there’s a lot of interesting info and ideas in those posts. Of course, typical Sullivan style, he’s got sleep apnea and that’s why he wrote about it. Doesn’t mean there’s not some good info there. And good for him for publicizing his experience with it and giving it some attention. It’s a much bigger problem than people think.

  25. 25.

    Daniel Middleton

    Big bummer.

    But I did hear from my paranoid neighbors Ted and Helen (notorious hoarders of tinfoil) that the CIA induced this “heart attack” to distract from their hit on the Rolling Stone reporter who hit a tree while driving at a high rate of speed.

  27. 27.

    Nicole

    @Betty Cracker:

    My husband swears I have sleep apnea. I didn’t realize it was so serious.

    My best friend’s dad had sleep apnea and slept with a cpap machine. He had weight-loss surgery, and a few months later, perhaps overly optimistic about his improving health, lay down for a nap without the machine and never woke up. It’s well worth your time to get checked.

  28. 28.

    Comrade Mary

    @Betty Cracker: I was officially diagnosed with a “mild” case, that goes to “moderate” during certain stages of sleep. I have been playing the “I’ll lose some weight and it will disappear” game because I did NOT want a CPAP, and anyway, it’s mostly “mild”.

    My dentist gently nagged me about this a couple of week ago. She said that it could really affect my life in a lot of ways, including cardiac issues, but still, I am active, have fantastic blood values and blood pressure, and I’m just not going to die.

    Right.

    There’s at least one non-CPAP option (something that would also protect my teeth from night clenching.) I guess I’m budgeting for that this year.

    Betty, get yourself to a sleep study, OK?

  29. 29.

    Chat Noir

    @Betty Cracker: Yes. My dad had it, wouldn’t use his CPAP and died last year of complications from a heart attack (he was 83). My husband was diagnosed with sleep apnea last year but uses his CPAP every night. No more snoring and we both sleep much better.

  31. 31.

    MaryJane

    Aw, shit. This one really saddens and shocks me and my heart goes out to those who loved him. He had so much more to give. RIP, James.

  32. 32.

    JWL

    @Betty Cracker: Now might be a good time to remind your husband that cops and crime labs can tell if a person has died of natural causes, or been smothered.

  34. 34.

    Elie

    On the specifics, went to a lecture on new therapies for mental illness (bi-polar and depression). A key takeaway for managing and stabilizing mood swings was having enough sleep. Many exacerbations of Type I and II Bi-polar are attributed to poor sleep and the Doc we listened to spent some time talking about “sleep hygiene”– or the importance of setting up your situation to get good sleep.

  36. 36.

    Elie

    Back to James… May you rest in peace. You left behind the insights people get from damned good acting. You left us a gift and not everyone gets to do that. Wish you were here with us longer. My deepest sympathies to your family and immediate loved ones. You will be missed

  37. 37.

    YellowJournalism

    @Betty Cracker: My dad had a machine on him one night to test his oxygen levels as he slept. Blood tests ruled out serious disease, but the doctor thinks he has sleep apnea. He’s going in next month for a sleep test. Going to cost over 1500 dollars and is not covered by his health insurance, unfortunately. My parents are able to swing it, but that’s terrible for those who can’t.

    I’m afraid my youngest has tendencies toward sleep apnea from the way he snores when he’s really sick.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    Terrible news. I really, really liked his work.

    One last time with the cannoli, Tone.

  40. 40.

    CaseyL

    Shocking and sad news. One hell of an actor; he brought an extra layer of authority to every role.

    Damnit.

  41. 41.

    John Cole

    @Betty Cracker: I have had sleep apnea for ten years (diagnosed). I think I have had it my whole life, because I remember being in undergrad and waking up in the morning in my girlfriend’s sorority house and she was on the floor with pillows over her head because I snored so loud. It was a running joke while I was in the military that it was a good thing I was on tanks because I would get everyone killed in a foxhole sleeping because they would know right where I was.

    Get a sleep study. Get a machine. You will wake up after the first night on it and say to yourself- “jesus, does everyone always feel this refreshed after a night’s sleep?”

    And it is related to all sorts of metabolic issues- heart disease, strokes, diabetes, so on.

    Didn’t everyone learn their lesson with Reggie White? Go. Now.

    And again, this is not something that should have a stigma. I had it when I was 200 lbs, on active duty, and in the best shape of my life, running every day and benching and just generally in amazing shape.

  42. 42.

    Comrade Mary

    I feel a bit guilty about my responses here (being a contemporary of Gandolfini and worrying about the potential role of sleep apnea in his death). I don’t want to skate pass his incredible talent or the pain his friends and family must be feeling.

    But if John’s suspicion about sleep apnea is righ, or even if it’s wrong, at least a few of us are taking the condition much, much more seriously than we did before. I hate that we lost Gandolfini, but his death may inspire a few people to take better care of themselves (finances permitting, of course).


    This response from Metafilter     is dead on about his talent:

    There have been other, better shows since the Sopranos (though they’re better by fractions of inches, not the leaps and bounds Sopranos was better than most of what had come before), but I don’t know that I’ve seen somebody on any TV show give such a remarkable nuanced performances as Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. He could seem like a helpless man child in one scene and a force of nature in another. The episode where he kills Ralph Cifaretto (indeed, the scene where he kills him), for example, is a real showcase for Gandolfini’s ability – he goes from mourning to murder to stone cold detachment and makes it entirely believable. Indeed, it was easy to believe that Gandolfini was Tony Soprano, that Tony was a living, breathing human being somewhere. If you want to take a master’s class in acting and don’t have the money, study him in that role. He’s one of the best actors of our lifetimes and we’re all lucky to have been alive at a time where we could watch a great actor matched perfectly with a great role.

    David Chase is quite rightly given credit for creating Sopranos and making it one of our greatest TV shows. However, with Gandolfini’s performance, I wonder if it would have lasted more than one season? Go watch season #1 again and marvel at him.

  43. 43.

    dance around in your bones

    51 is just way too young. Of course, 33 is way too young as well.

    Hell, I think dying just sucks, no matter what age you are. Inevitable as it is.

  44. 44.

    Poopyman

    I’m a huge snorer, and it disrupts my sleep. A number of years ago I started wearing a Silent Nite mouthguard and it has made a HUGE difference. In the meantime my BIL underwent palate surgery for his apnea, and its effectiveness wore off after a year or so. The mouthguard is a fairly cheap, non-permanent, and fairly non-invasive solution. If it doesn’t do the job, you’re not out a lot of dough and can escalate from there.

    ETA: Silent Nite is only one of a number of anti-snoring mouthguards. Talk to your dentist.

  45. 45.

    Jstuddle

    Loved The Sopranos and had the privilege of watching him perform live at the Ahmanson Theatre in l.a. In a play called God of Carnage. Great actor. I feel sad.

  46. 46.

    dedc79

    About 10-12 years ago I was sitting outside on a saturday at around 4 am getting a drink in the west village in NYC when a limo pulls up and out steps Tony Soprano. His face was flushed and he had a girl on each arm, and I remember thinking “Glad to see he’s having a good time. This is not someone who’s gonna be living to a ripe old age.” For all I know, he had settled down a bunch since then, but regardless, at least the had a good time while he was here.

  47. 47.

    MattR

    @JWL:

    Near the end of the Soprano run, a reporter asked him if he was anything like Tony. He laughed, and said something along the lines of, “I’m more like a 260 pound Woody Allen”.

    A buddy from HS had an uncredited part in Pelham 1-2-3. He used to rave about what a nice guy Gandolfini was. My condolences to all his family and friends.

  48. 48.

    Comrade Mary

    @John Cole: You don’t necessarily have to be a florid snorer to have apnea, either.

    Le Guy says that I snore “just a little”, even though I have pressed him on this and he’s usually pretty honest with me. The first hint to me that I could really snore was finding myself trying to fight off dropping to sleep at work (when I really was not getting enough sleep with multiple projects) and waking myself with a sudden, loud snort. This is very embarrassing if you are working in a cubicle that day.

    If you always feel tired, if you have ADHD, if you grind or clench your teeth, if your bed-sharer says that you kick them a lot: you might have apnea. Please get checked out.

  49. 49.

    Poopyman

    @John Cole: Yeah, I’m a ways below my lifetime high weight of 155, and I’m 5’10”. Weight and fitness – or lack of – have nothing to do with the matter. (A deviated septum, OTOH …)

  50. 50.

    Tom Q

    I’d say The Sopranos would have been a hell of a show anyway, but finding as great an actor as Gandolfini to play Tony pushed it to another level. And the obverse is also true: Gandolfini was a very talented man, but he was incredibly fortunate to find a great leading role so suited to him (few actors of his type could claim the same). As perfect a meeting of role and actor as Brando/Stanley Kowalski.

    Sad to be missing out on decades more of fine work from him.

  51. 51.

    LAC

    @Comrade Mary: I got a sleep study and had moderate sleep apnea despite not being particularly overweight. I have the machine – it was that or palate surgery (50 50 proposition at best). The machine works for me. I sleep deep and as a result can get up and focus.

    Jaysus, RIP James gandolfini.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a family history of cardiac problems — my best friend’s husband does, which is why he had to go all Dean Ornish with his diet this year. Still, ugh, so sad for his friends and family to lose someone so young.

  53. 53.

    LAC

    @YellowJournalism: gosh ii am sorry! is it really not covered by insurance? Mine was and I do not understand what kind of insurance would not cover at least some of this.

  54. 54.

    Karen in GA (who really needs a better name)

    The hubby was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. He hated the CPAP machine, until a couple of weeks ago when he said hell with it and went to sleep without it. He woke up the next morning absolutely miserable — he’d had no idea what a difference it was making. He stopped complaining, and wears the mask religiously now. I’m a very relieved wife.

    But a very sad James Gandolfini fan. RIP.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    What a shame. And a tiny daughter, Liliana, born in 2012, who won’t get to grow up to know him.

    I am still shocked about Michael Hastings.

    Sad week.

  59. 59.

    Shortstop

    The third baseman just now: “His funeral will be weird, because all these whacked individuals will be there, like they’ve been resurrected or something. Adriana, Christafuh, Pussy, Tony B., Jackie…”

  60. 60.

    ruemara

    This is very sad, particularly where he has a brand new daughter. And a little scary because I now want a sleep study. But I must admit I sleep like a rock except for the night bladder thing.

  61. 61.

    Mystical Chick

    I am really, really bummed about this – coming from an Italian family, The Sopranos felt like ‘home’ to me (in the good ways, not the ‘let me strangle you with wire’ ways) and I got very attached to that show. Always liked Gandolfini in whatever he was in.

    Just damn.

    That is all I have to say – just damn.

  64. 64.

    dewzke

    five foot ten and 175…used to be 220….no pops/soda for 7 years and no sweets. It does make a quick difference.

  65. 65.

    koalaholik

    @Betty Cracker: Betty – have a sleep study. Sleep apnea puts a terrible strain on your heart. When I had my sleep study they said I stopped breathing about 60 times an hour. I don’t wake up with head aches anymore, I feel more energized and I am a little less of a bitch then before. Please get a sleep study done.

  67. 67.

    Jinx

    Hey, I know it’s late in the thread and a little OT. But does anyone have a link to the thread from a few years ago about something like “best decision I’ve ever made” that involved quitting drinking?
    I hate to derail sincerely but am facing some issues with my family and remember the post as being pretty inspiring wrt to “life (good life!) after. This should really be in an open thread (again I apologize) but things have come to a head. I never comment but read always : ). Thanks if any can help.

  68. 68.

    Jinx

    Hey, I know it’s late in the thread and a little OT. But does anyone have a link to the thread from a few years ago about something like “best decision I’ve ever made” that involved quitting drinking?
    I hate to derail sincerely but am facing some issues with my family and remember the post as being pretty inspiring wrt to “life (good life!) after. This should really be in an open thread (again I apologize) but things have come to a head. I never comment but read always : ). Thanks if any can help.

  69. 69.

    YellowJournalism

    @LAC: it wasn’t covered by his policy. It covered the other tests, at least. The policy isn’t bad other than that, thank goodness.

  70. 70.

    Dr. Squid

    I think the first thing I saw him in was as Bear in Get Shorty. He made us care about a low level leg breaker in the local mob.

    51? Damn. He always seemed to be perpetually middle aged, even in the mid ’90’s.

  71. 71.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    Maybe he should have a couple of thousand bucks out of all that money he made and gotten a cardiac CAT scan, big guy like that, he was a heart attack waiting to happen.

    If they catch it before it kills you a doctor can actually do something about it. Not so much afterwards.

  72. 72.

    dance around in your bones

    @Jinx: Perhaps this thread?

    There are a number of folks on this site that have long experience with sobriety. Good luck :)

    P.S. You can hit Crtl + F and type in quitting drinking to go to the relevant comments.

  73. 73.

    Radio One

    The Sopranos single-handedly introduced the idea that highly serialized tv shows would not only be watched in the United States, but be loved and anticipated on a weekly basis for more than a season.

  74. 74.

    xian

    @Violet: even his character was diagnosed with apnea, but is a mob boss (or movie star) going to sleep with a CPAP?

    apnea puts a terrible strain on the body, including heart.

  76. 76.

    xian

    @Betty Cracker: get a sleep study! I did and the treatment for apnea changed my life. didn’t realize how damn tired I was, even when I had 12 hours in bed before getting up on a Sunday.

  78. 78.

    xian

    @John Cole: this.

    one caveat. The first week or so on my CPAP I felt drowsy and *more* tired than usual, I think because I was finally catching up on my sleep and my body was adjusting its expectations and allowing me to notice the huge built-up fatique more by contrast.

    but it was like a power anti-depressant too!

    I lost around 50 lbs and my apnea went from “pickwickian” to mild, but did not disappear. I also have a deviated nasal septum (thanks, genes!), and my docs think I will probably always have some apnea. :\

  79. 79.

    lojasmo

    @Betty Cracker:

    Quite. S.A. is likely the largest contributor to atrial fibrillation/flutter. It also contributes to obesity, mitral valve disorders, and sleep disorders.

    I’m immensely grateful to my wife who hectored me into getting tested. I now wear a mandibular enhancement device, and, while I used to think I had terminal insomnia, waking about 4 every morning, I now sleep blissfully through the night.

  80. 80.

    lojasmo

    @Comrade Mary:

    I didn’t tolerate CPAP (knew in advance I wouldn’t) so I got an appointment to be fitted for a SUAD device.

    I sleep like a baby, and so does the missus. They’re expensive, but well worth it.

  82. 82.

    Comrade Mary

    @lojasmo: Thanks! That’s what I’m investigating with my dentist. I’ve just called for an estimate: they’re getting back to me.

  83. 83.

    Comrade Mary

    @xian: Brilliant! I think I’m going with a mouth device first (I do have clenching / grinding issues that need to be addressed) and hopefully it will work for mild / moderate me, but yeah, if all else fails, I’ll have to move to CPAP.

    (Oh, and I love your web site — bookmarked!)

  84. 84.

    rollSound

    @xian:

    when does he come back as Gandolfini the White?

    Seth Green is going to so kick himself for not thinking of that one.

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