James Gandolfini’s body arrived back in New Jersey on Sunday night after flying from Italy – where the 51-year-old star died on June 19.
The Sopranos star’s coffin was loaded onto a private jet operated by Signature Airlines in Rome and touched down at Newark Airport at approximately 9 p.m.
James Gandolfini’s body was then transported to the Robert Spearing Funeral home in New Jersey where it will be held until Thursday when a funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.
James Gandolfini’s body arrived back in New Jersey on Sunday night after flying from Italy
An HBO spokeswoman speaking on behalf of the family says the funeral is confirmed for 10 a.m.
James Gandolfini died Wednesday in Rome. Family spokesman Michael Kobold says the actor died of a heart attack.
Photos of the Rome hotel room in which late actor James Gandolfini spent his final moments have emerged as the star’s body was flown back to the United States today ahead of his funeral on Thursday.
In room 449 of the art deco Boscolo Exedra Roma hotel, a $671 per night suite overlooking the Piazza della Repubblica, James Gandolfini died on June 19 of a massive heart attack.
Pictures show the ornate marble bathroom in which the actor was found by his 13-year-old son Michael and where paramedics worked to save James Gandolfini before rushing him to Policlinico Umberto I hospital.
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Pictures of the Rome hotel room in which James Gandolfini spent his final moments have emerged.
In room 449 of the art deco Boscolo Exedra Roma hotel, a $671 per night suite overlooking the Piazza della Repubblica, James Gandolfini died June 19 of a massive heart attack at the age of 51.
Photos show the ornate marble bathroom in which the actor was found by his 13-year-old son Michael and where paramedics worked to save James Gandolfini before rushing him to Policlinico Umberto I hospital.
Celebrity chef Sandra Lee would later stay in the finely appointed room on Friday, until learning it was the very same in which James Gandolfini took ill.
When media learned that Sandra Lee had been so quickly placed in the suite, they pounced. Sources told the New York Post that Sandra Lee was “saddened” when she learned of the fourth floor room’s recent history.
Sandra Lee was in town with her sister and nieces. Room 449 was one of several she’d rented for their trip.
As Italian media began to swarm, Sandra Lee and company left after only one night.
James Gandolfini, who found fame playing a mafia boss was vacationing in Rome prior to the Taormina Film Festival, which he was slated to attend in Sicily over the weekend.
The actor was set to receive an award at the festival. He instead received a tribute on Saturday.
James Gandolfini and his son toured the Vatican prior to his death as they awaited the arrival of his sister.
Boscolo Exedra Roma hotel bathroom where James Gandolfini suffered a fatal heart attack
Leta Gandolfini, one of the actor’s two older sisters who both live in New Jersey, appeared grief-last stricken last week as she arrived at the morgue flanked by security guards.
An autopsy on Friday confirmed James Gandolfini died of a heart attack and that there were no suspicious factors, such as alcohol, on his medical report.
He was taken by ambulance to the hospital around 10:40pm Wednesday night.
He was reportedly alive as six men removed him from the Hotel Exedra, but had entered cardiac arrest by the time he reached the hospital.
Doctors worked for over half an hour, trying to bring James Gandolfini back, but it was to no avail.
The alarm was first raised when the actor’s son Michael called the hotel’s front desk after finding his father in the bathroom.
The night before his death, James Gandolfini dined with Michael in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood.
His waiter Andrei Burca told the New York Post: “He had a big smile, a big laugh, and looked happy.”
But just 24 hours later, Michael Gandolfini found his father suffering from a heart attack in the bathroom of their hotel room. Doctors battled for 40 minutes to save him but he was later pronounced dead.
James Gandolfini’s body was initially slated to be flown to the U.S.by Wednesday or Thursday, and his funeral held in New York.
“In Italy, it can take up to 10 days to get all the necessary documents and paperwork to repatriate the body. We are looking forward to working with the Italian government and officials to shorten that process,” family friend and spokesman Michael Kobold originally said.
But, on Sunday, those plans appeared to accelerate.
That’s when Michael Kobold told reporters that the “provisional plan” is to depart Rome on Monday afternoon for the United States, several days earlier than anticipated. He did not specify which U.S. airport.
The Italian news agency ANSA later released photos of James Gandolfini’s body departing Rome.
The agency says the private plane took off at 6 p.m. Sunday. Its exact U.S. destination was unclear.
Family spokesman Michael Kobold had told reporters the “provisional plan” was to repatriate Gandolfini’s body Monday.
Michael Kobold thanked Italian and U.S. authorities, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, his predecessor Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton for helping with arrangements.
Deborah Lin, who had been married to James Gandolfini for five years, was spotted at a Los Angeles shopping mall buying clothes for their baby daughter before the funeral.
In his home state of New Jersey, flags will be flown at half-mast on state buildings on Monday, New Jersey governor Chris Christie said.
James Gandolfini rose to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 film True Romance, and roles in films such as Terminal Velocity and Get Shorty followed.
However, it was not until his breakout role in 1999 in the hit television show The Sopranos that he became a household name.
Since The Sopranos ended its six-season run in June 2007, James Gandolfini had appeared in a number of big-screen roles, including the crime drama Killing Them Softly and Zero Dark Thirty, a film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
James Gandolfini had been working on an upcoming HBO series, Criminal Justice, and had two films due out next year.
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A woman from Davy Jones’ staff desperately tried to get help for music icon, the 911 call recording revealed.
The woman is heard calling 911 where she pleads for an ambulance to “hurry” – The Monkees singer had suffered a heart attack at his home.
The unidentified female then suggests it might be quicker to put the singer into a truck and drive to the hospital.
The tape plays the tragic moments before Davy Jones, the lead singer of The Monkees, was pronounced dead.
The woman asks: “Ambulance please,” before highlighting the urgency adding: “Hurry!”
She is then heard suggesting it might be quicker to take the 66-year-old singer in a car to the hospital which was 27 miles away from his home.
Davy Jones, the lead singer of the 1960’s group The Monkees, died on Wednesday after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 66.
Davy Jones complained of breathing troubles early in the morning and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Rhonda Irons, spokeswoman for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the singer’s death.
An official from the medical examiner’s office for Martin County, Florida, said they received a phone call from the Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Davy Jones had died.
A spokesman for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said Davy Jones was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital in the town of Stuart.
The spokesman said they are investigating Davy Jones’s death but said there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
Davy Jones, the lead singer of the 1960’s group The Monkees, died on Wednesday after suffering a massive heart attack
A statement released by the Sherriff’s Office said: “A witness has stated that earlier this morning he was at 9955 SW Fox Brown Road in Indiantown, Florida, with David Jones. He stated Mr. Jones began to complain of not feeling well and having trouble breathing.
“Martin County Fire Rescue responded and transported Mr. Jones to Martin Health System Stuart, where he was pronounced deceased. At this time there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Family has been notified.”
Davy Jones’ bandmate, drummer Micky Dolenz, released a statement to TMZ saying he had “bad dreams all night long” before learning of his friend’s death this morning.
“Can’t believe it…Still in shock…had bad dreams all night long,” Micky Dolenz said.
He added: “My love and prayers go out to Davy’s girls and family right now.”
Bassist Peter Tork released a statement saying: “It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones.
“His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to Jessica and the rest of his family.
“Adios, to the Manchester Cowboy.”
Michael Nesmith who didn’t join the original members of the group, Davy, Micky and Peter – in reuniting for a 45th anniversary tour last year – also revealed he will “miss” the pop icon.
Michael Nesmith wrote: “I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality. I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence.”
Davy Jones leaves behind four daughters, Talia Elizabeth, 43, and Sarah Lee, 40 from his marriage to Linda Haines, and Jessica Lillian, 30, and 23-year-old Annabel Charlotte from his marriage to Anita Pollinger.
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