James Gandolfini Is Dead at 51; a Complex Mob Boss in ‘The Sopranos’. James Gandolfini, the Emmy Award-winning actor who shot to fame on the HBO drama “The Sopranos” as Tony Soprano, a tough-talking, hard-living crime boss with a stolid exterior but a rich interior life, died on Wednesday. He was 51. Mr. Gandolfini’s death was confirmed by HBO.