James Gandolfini’s body will be back in U.S. sooner than expected
Posted June 23, 2013 12:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Longtime friend of Sopranos star James Gandolfini, Michael Kobold, on Sunday gave an outline of the timetable for the repatriation of James Gandolfini’s remains.
Kobold held a news conference at the Rome hotel where the actor died on Wednesday reading a statement from the Gandolfini family expressing their thanks to Italian and American authorities.
“On behalf of the Gandolfini family I would like to thank the Italian authorities for all the assistance they have rendered in expediting the formalities necessary to repatriate James Gandolfini’s remains to the United States,” Kobold said.
“We are fully aware that this process normally takes seven days and we are extremely grateful for their efficiency in dealing with this matter.”
Kobold had earlier said that bureaucracy meant the family would not be able to fly Gandolfini’s body back to America for some days.
“We are now looking at hopefully getting James Gandolfini’s remains back to the United States tomorrow. The provisional plan is to depart Rome tomorrow afternoon and arrive in the U.S. in the evening,” he added.
Reading a statement prepared for him, Kobold added the family’s thanks to many in the United States.
“We, the family, would like to thank the United States Government, especially Secretary Kerry and our friends at the State Department for helping us in this time of need,” Kobold said.
Gandolfini, whose performance as Tony Soprano made him a household name and ushered in a new era of American television drama, had been scheduled to attend the closing of the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily on Saturday.
Festival organizers planned a special tribute to the actor after his sudden death from a heart attack.
Kobold had previously said the family was hoping to hold a funeral in New York between Thursday and Saturday.