( CNN ) -- The body of actor James Gandolfini has been returned to the United States , a family friend said Monday . A charter flight to Newark , New Jersey , on Sunday night carried the body of the `` Sopranos '' star , Michael Kobold said . An autopsy determined his death was the result of a heart attack , Kobold said . A funeral service for family and friends is scheduled for Thursday in New York , Kobold said . It will be held at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan . Gandolfini , 51 , died last week while on a working vacation in Rome . He arrived there with his son , Michael , the day before he died . `` Jim was happy , he was healthy , he was doing really fine , '' Kobold said recently . `` He was on vacation with his son . He has an 8-month-old daughter . Everything was going great . I just spoke to him on Father 's Day . '' The same day Gandolfini died , he had visited the Vatican and dined with his son , the family said . After he returned to his room , his son alerted hotel staff that he was not answering knocks on the bathroom door . Hotel staff broke down the door to get to him and called an ambulance , said Tiziana Rocca , head of a film festival the actor was planning to attend . Gandolfini was in Italy to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest in the Sicilian town of Taormina . Instead of the award ceremony , the festival paid tribute to Gandolfini 's lifetime achievements . The actor shot to fame on the HBO drama `` The Sopranos . '' In the widely successful series , he played Tony Soprano , a tough New Jersey crime boss . He also appeared in various movies , including `` Zero Dark Thirty '' and `` Killing Them Softly . '' Entertainers , politicians , friends mourn Gandolfini . Fans : 'It 's not James , it 's Tony '
Gandolfini 's remains arrived on Sunday night , according to a family friend . The actor was found in his home at the time of the shooting and pronounced dead by emergency personnel shortly after midnight. The `` Sopranos '' star died in Rome last week of a heart attack . He had been on vacation with his son .