James Gandolfini, the Emmy-award-winning actor who played Tony Soprano on the hit television show The Sopranos, has died in Italy.
The 51-year-old is believed to have suffered a heart attack.
HBO confirmed that Gandolfini was was in Italy when he died, according to CNN.
Mara Mikialian, HBO’s vice president for program publicity, told CNN that Gandolfini was holidaying in Rome at the time of his death. Gandolfini’s managers also confirmed the actor’s death to CNN.
The Hollywood icon was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival when he died, according to TMZ. He was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino.
Gandolfini rose to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 hit True Romance, but his big break came in 1999 when he was cast as mafia boss Tony Soprano in the hit show about the New Jersey mob.
The Sopranos was recently named as the best-written TV series ever screened in the US in a list compiled by the Writers Guild of America.
Gandolfini is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, a son and daughter.
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