James Gandolfini's Widow Seen for First Time in Years on 7th Anniversary of 'The Sopranos' Star's Death

Deborah Lin, the widow of James Gandolfini, has kept a low profile since her husband's death in [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Deborah Lin, the widow of James Gandolfini, has kept a low profile since her husband's death in 2013, but she was spotted in Los Angeles on Friday. The 52-year-old Lin was seen with their daughter Liliana, now 7 years old, and a mystery man in the photos published Monday by the Daily Mail. Friday also marked the seventh anniversary of The Sopranos actor's death.

Although this was the first time paparazzi spotted Lin in Los Angeles in several years, she attended the first SopranosCon at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, in November 2019. She posed for photos in front of a unique photo collage of Gandolfini and called the support from fans "overwhelming" in an interview with NJ Advance Media. "We're really touched," Lin said. "The fans are so generous. They say it's a community. It's nice to see that everyone cares about and is passionate about something they recognize. Hopefully, it will live on for another 20 years."

Lin and Gandolfini married in her hometown of Honolulu in 2008 and welcomed Liliana in October 2012. Gandolfini is also survived by his first wife, Marcy Mudarski, and son Michael Gandolfini, 20. The beloved actor suddenly died while vacationing in Rome with Michael on June 19, 2013. He was scheduled to accept an award at a film festival in Sicily. Gandolfini and Lin lived in New York City at the time of her death, but Lin recently moved to the West Coast.

Gandolfini was best known for playing Tony Soprano in HBO's The Sopranos. The role earned him a Golden Globe in 2000 and three consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series from 2000 to 2003. He also starred in the films Enough Said, Zero Dark Thirty, The Drop, and In The Loop. As a producer, he earned Emmy nominations for the documentary Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq and the HBO movie Hemingway & Gellhorn.

Michael played a younger version of Tony Soprano in the upcoming prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark. The film was written by Sopranos creator David Chase with Larence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor. Warner Bros. has scheduled the film to hit theaters on March 12, 2021.

In a recent interview with Esquire, Gandolfini said he still had to audition for the part and never watched The Sopranos before going into Chase's office. He called watching the show the "hardest part" of the process. "It was an intense process," he said. "Because, as an actor, I had to watch this guy who created the role, to look for mannerisms, voice, all those things I would have to echo. But then I'd also be seeing my father."

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