James Gandolfini Honored At The Emmy Awards

James Gandolfini was honored last night with a "In Memoriam" tribute at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Edie Falco, who played Gandolfini's onscreen wife for six years on "The Sopranos", gave the tribute speech: "His portrayal of Tony Soprano had such depth and dimension that there are still a lot of people who have a hard time believing that's not who he really was. Well, I'm here to tell you, Jim was really quite different. He had tremendous warmth and heart. He was kind, he was uniquely generous. Over the years I was particularly moved by Jim's devotion to his family and fierce loyalty to his friends and all the people in his life. You can ask anybody who knew him, if you needed anything at all ever. Jim was there to take care of it before you even had a chance to ask. You all knew James Gandolfini the actor. I was lucky enough to know Jim the man for 10 years as his close colleague and life partner and for many more years as his friend. And it's Jim the man, the very dear man, that I will miss most of all," she said of the Emmy-award winning Italian-American actor who died last June of a heart attack during a brief vacation in Rome. At the time, he was expected to travel to Sicily on June 22 to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest. While word of his death spread, actors, politicians, musicians and fans took to the Internet to respond. The Emmy's tribute took place few days after Gandolfini's birthday on the 18th of September. He would have turned 52. Fans and friends remembered him with various initiatives and tributes around the world.