Mr. Gandolfini at the Boscolo Exedra in Rome

  

                                            Boscolo Exedra Hotel Rome  Read more at US Mag.

It was disturbing to hear that Soprano James Gandolfini passed while on a workcation. The Emmy-winning actor's suddenly passed in Rome, Italy on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at just 51 years old.  The Italian-American icon was in Rome with wife Deborah Lin, his 13-year-old son, Michael, nine-month-old daughter Liliana and other family members.

Gandolfini was also in the region for the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily; he had intended to attend the festival's closing ceremony this weekend, receive an award and participate in a roundtable discussion with Marisa Tomei.  Gandolfini and his family were staying at the five-star Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Rome, and is believed to have suffered a fatal heart attack in his room.  In his last movie, "Enough Said", he portrays a divorced dad whose daughter is about to attend college.  It was a funny story and the critics say it captures his remarkable gift of acting.   The photos below are the ones I took of the Boscolo hotel.

A toast to Mr. Gandolfini...