Biographic - Sunday September 27, 2009 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

James Gandolfini Jr. was born in Westwood, New Jersey, on September 18, 1961. While earning a B.A. in communications at Rutgers University, he worked as a bar bouncer and later managed a Manhattan nightclub. Acting classes led to his first stage role, playing an Elvis Presley impersonator. Following a string of off-Broadway productions, he made his movie debut in the 1992 thriller, "A Stranger Among Us" the same year he began a lengthy run in a Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" alongside Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. In 1993 he made a memorable appearance as a thug in the Tarantino-scripted movie "True Romance" His star continued to rise with roles in such movies as "Terminal Velocity" "Get Shorty" "Crimson Tide" "12 Angry Men" and "The Juror" and then he was cast as Mob Bosses Tony Soprano in HBO's "The Sopranos" the series debuted in 1999 to huge critical acclaim. Universally acknowledged as a landmark in television history, "The Sopranos" ran for six seasons, garnering a host of awards, including three Emmys and a Golden Globe for Gandolfini. By the time "The Sopranos" ended in early 2007, he was reportedly earning $1 million per episode. Meanwhile, his movie career had continued apace, his credits ranging from "The Mexican" with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts to "Surviving Christmas" opposite Ben Affleck in 2007, he produced an HBO documentary on injured Iraq war veterans. He returned to the Broadway stage in 2009, earning a Tony Nomination for his role in the comedy "A God of Carnage." In a complete change of pace, he also voiced the character of Carol in the movie "The Taking of Pelham 123" alongside Denzel Washington and John Travolta. It was his fifth movie with fellow New Jersey native Travolta, whose early success were an inspiration to the young Gandolfini back in the days when he would see John's movie posters at the local tire store where his Dad bought tires form Travolta's father.

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