Gandolfini, who died last week at the age of 51 while on a trip to Rome with his son, was eulogized by his wife, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, family friends and “Sopranos” creator David Chase. Chase read a letter to Gandolfini, saying he first attempted to write a traditional eulogy “came out like bad TV.”
Chase praised Gandolfini for never losing sight of “the little boy” inside him. “That’s why I think you were such a great actor, because of that boy inside,” Chase said, according to the New York Daily News. “I think your talent is that you can take the immensity of humankind and the universe and shine it right back at us.”
Lin, who has an 8-month-old daughter with Gandolfini, remembered him as “an honest, kind and loving man. He cared more about others than himself. … Thank you for the memories of the beautiful life we spent together. I love you Jim, and I always will. Rest in peace.”
A host of Gandolfini’s “Sopranos” co-stars, including Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Dominic Chianese, Aida Turturro, Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Joe Pantoliano, Jerry Adler, Vincent Curatola, Steve Schirripa and Steve Buscemi, attended the funeral. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, and John Turturro were also at the funeral at the Cathederal Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
After family and friends were seated at the church, fans of the actor — many of whom waited for several hours outside the church — were allowed in to fill the remaining seats.