forgiven realtor: Gandolfini funeral draws family, fans, stars in NY

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

18 minutes ago

The final funeral service for actor James Gandolfini drew thousands of mourners in New York Thursday. Celebrities and fans arrived at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for what was expected to be a 90-minute memorial service.

Gandolfini, the 51-year-old star known by many as the mob boss at the head of the HBO series "The Sopranos," died of a heart attack in Rome on June 19.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The casket of actor James Gandolfini is escorted into the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine for funeral services in New York on Thursday.

The Very Reverend Dr. James A Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John Divine, led Thursday's service. Remembrances were provided by Gandolfini?s wife, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, as well as family friends Thomas Richardson and Susan Aston. David Chase, creator and executive producer of ?The Sopranos? also spoke.

Chase?s remembrance began with ?Dear Jimmy,? and took the form of a letter to Gandolfini. He went on to talk about working with the actor on ?The Sopranos? and referred to a scene where Gandolfini slammed a refrigerator door so hard he broke it. "Sometimes you tried too hard. The refrigerator is one example."

Chase also recalled a time that Gandolfini told him, "I just want to be a man."

"The paradox with you I always felt was I was seeing a young boy, because you are boyish. ... That is why you were an amazing actor, that child inside,? Chase said. He ended his ?letter? by relating a scene they never did but one he had mapped out: Tony Soprano is stranded in the Meadowlands with nothing in his pockets and had to board a bus to get home like everyone else. They would end the episode with a shot on his face as Joan Osborne?s ?What if God was one of us,? playing. Chase then ended his speech with the same letter format: ?Love, David.?

Among others who attended the service were Gandolfini's ?Sopranos? co-stars Edie Falco, Dominic Chianese, Joe Pantoliono, Aida Turturro and Juliana Margulies. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was also spotted entering St. John the Divine.

Gandolfini was also remembered Wednesday at a private, invitation-only wake held in Park Ridge. N.J. Gandolfini?s wife and his 9-month-old daughter, Liliana, were among the first to arrive, according to the New York Daily News.

"It's a nightmare for the whole family," Bob Price, whose wife is a Gandolfini cousin, told the paper. "It's a horrible, horrible thing, everybody is just devastated.