James Gandolfini, who famously played Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" died earlier today in Italy. Gandolfini who died at 51 is believed to have suffered a hart attack. Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, and was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino, but he died earlier this morning.  



Gandolfini shot to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 hit "True Romance", and quickly became a Hollywood legend when he was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999.  He won 3 Emmy awards for the role during the show's 6 season run.

'Sopranos' creator David Chase tells TMZ, "James was a genius. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time.  A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes.  I remember telling him many times, 'You don't get it.  You're like Mozart.' There would be silence at the other end of the phone. He was my partner, he was my brother in ways I can't explain and never will be able to explain.”

Gandolfini also appeared in a ton of huge movies including "Get Shorty," "The Mexican" and "Zero Dark Thirty." Gandolfini is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, who gave birth to the couple's daughter in October 2012. He also has a teenage son from a previous marriage.