Tony Soprano's Last Lesson

James Gandolfini as Tony, in a sober moment.

I have always wanted to write newspaper obituaries but those jobs are harder to come by than a decent pizza, so I am usually somewhat gladdened when someone famous dies and I can live out my fantasy. Not this time.

The gifted actor James Gandolfini died yesterday. He was vacationing with his family in Italy, which is the only nice thing about it. Now that he's dead we'll be talking about him for a few days whereas we weren't before; death really perks up everyone's interest. James will surely be on the cover of People magazine, and last night that horrid Piers Morgan who should just go back to England already jumped on the dead-Tony Soprano bandwagon before the body was even cold, devoting his hour-long TV show to him. (I am looking forward to writing an obituary for Piers in this space, hopefully soon.)

James and I never met and now we never will, which is a shame because I loved him--well, not him so much as Tony Soprano, the character he played in the TV series The Sopranos. Still, James made him real. Tony was a cold-hearted killer but also a sweet, teddy bear of a man, who had trouble dealing with his own confused and conflicting emotions. He was a tough mob boss who secretly saw a shrink once a week. His problems had nothing to do with hacking people up, which he did easily and with abandon; instead he was torn up over his relationships and full of self-doubt. A true family man, he loved his kids and his wife, even though he cheated on her all the time. Fortunately he never had to kill any of them, for he surely would have; business always came first with Tony.

Born into a lower middle-class family in New Jersey--his mom was a cafeteria worker and his dad a bricklayer-- James didn't try acting until he was 25, working instead after college as a bartender and bouncer. A friend prodded him into acting classes where his natural talent surfaced, ultimately making him an award-winning superstar of mammoth proportions.

In the last few years James was clearly obese and always seemed to have a cigar going, so we can assume health was not a primary concern of his. Despite that, he was dashing and attractive; one can only imagine how handsome he would have been if he lost weight and got himself in shape. Instead he suffered a fatal heart attack at 51, leaving behind an 8-month baby girl, a teenage son from his first marriage and his new, young wife. So think about it: Is today the day you start your diet and exercise regime? If you're still alive, it's not too late.