Northport Co-Star Mourns Gandolfini

Former Northporter Edie Falco was devastated to learn of actor James Gandolfini’s death Wednesday while he was vacationing in Italy.

“I am shocked and devastated by Jim's passing,” Falco said in a statement released by Showtime. “He was a man of tremendous depth and sensitivity, with a kindness and generosity beyond words. I consider myself very lucky to have spent 10 years as his close colleague. My heart goes out to his family. As those of us in his pretend one hold on to the memories of our intense and beautiful time together. The love between Tony and Carmela was one of the greatest I've ever known.”

Falco spent 86 episodes over nearly a decade playing the TV wife of New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano, Gandolfini in a tour de force. Their gritty performances as a mob couple exploring the depths of marriage vaulted the HBO series "The Sopranos" into the zeitgeist of American consciousness.

It was a star-making turn for both Falco, a 1981 Northport High School graduate, and the Jersey-born Gandolfini. Now Gandolfini is dead at 51. 

Falco, 49, stars in the Showtime series "Nurse Jackie," which has been greenlit for a sixth season.

Fans have set up a memorial at the famous cul-de-sac that Tony and Carmela called home in The Sopranos in North Caldwell, N.J.