James Gandolfini dead at 51

blacbird said:

Heart problems don't depend entirely on weight. Jon Ritter died suddenty of a heart attack at an even earlier age, and he was no butterball. The valedictorian of my high school class, a great friend with the almost surreally clichéd name of David Johnson, a state champion track athlete who went to Yale on a scholarship based both on his athletic and scholastic prowess, died of a heart attack at the age of 21.

It happens.

caw

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nighttimer said:

I agree someone can outwardly appear to be in great physical condition and keel over from a heart attack while someone who is doing the Big Mac Diet daily can live to be old and grey and still pounding down Big Macs daily.

Do I know James Gandolfini's weight caused his stroke and untimely death. Of course I don't. Could it have been a contributing factor? Of course it could.

Which is why I used the word "speculation" because the Internet runs on speculation like jet fuel.

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His size sure makes him seem a good candidate, but as was agreed above, you never can tell. I knew two young, thin guys (come to think of it, are men more vulnerable to early heart attacks than women?) who had major, non-fatal heart attacks in their 30's. Also, two close family members, both more on the thin than thick side who died of their first heart attacks in their 50's. Neither smoked cigarettes.

The_Ink_Goddess said:

really sad. Such a shame that he'll never be Oscar-nominated or anything, he's FANTASTIC in the Sopranos.

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He did win three Emmy awards for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, though. I think one of the things that made him so good in that part was the vulnerability of his character. I was actually late to get into the show. When I heard about the mob boss on the shrink's couch, my first reaction was something very close to 'Oh, give me a break, a sensitive, introspective mafia boss'. But without that aspect of the character he would have been on the flat, uninteresting side. And Gandolfini was perfect for the role, right? He seemed to have that in his personality - a tough guy with a soft side. Not the biggest star around, but his death seems to have hit people in the gut, and I think this is one of the reasons why.