Italian authorities have determined James Gandolfini died of natural causes. An autopsy revealed The Sopranos star suffered a heart attack. Gandolfini’s spokesperson confirmed the news on Friday.
"Today we received the results of the autopsy, which stated he died of a heart attack, of natural causes," Michael Kobold said. "The autopsy further states that nothing else was found in his system."
"We are all devastated by this loss," he adds. "James was a devoted husband, a loving father of two children, a brother and cousin you could always count on. We thank you for the privacy you have afforded us during this difficult time."
Kobold later said Gandolfini’s body will be flown back to the United States as soon as Italian authorities clear the move. "Once we have the clearance, we will put him on a flight to America. We expect that to be Wednesday, maybe Thursday, but we will keep you informed,” he said, adding that the funeral will hopefully happen “on Thursday, Friday, latest Saturday” in NYC.
Gandolfini, 51, died Wednesday night after collapsing in his room at the Boscolo Exedra hotel in Rome. His 13-year-old son Michael found him and called for help, but the actor had stopped breathing by the time he reached Policlinico Umberto I hospital. Attempts to resuscitate him failed. "The resuscitation maneuvers, including heart massage, continued for 40 minutes and then, seeing no electric activity from the heart, this was interrupted and we declared James dead," Dr. Claudio Modini said.
In addition to Michael, Gandolfini is survived by his wife Deborah Lin and their 9-month-old daughter Liliana.
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