Italy hospital: Gandolfini died of cardiac arrest

Associated Press
Coroner Antonio Spasola speaks to the media outside the morgue of Policlinico Umberto I hospital where the body of actor James Gandolfini was brought after he died late Wednesday in Rome,Thursday, June 20, 2013. Gandolfini died after suffering a cardiac arrest while vacationing in Rome. Claudio Morini, head of the hospital's emergency room, said Gandolfini arrived at the hospital at 10:40 p.m. (2040 GMT, 4:40 p.m. EDT) Wednesday and was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. after resuscitation efforts in the ambulance and hospital failed. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

ROME (AP) — A friend of James Gandolfini says the actor was discovered by a family member after he suffered an apparent heart attack in his hotel room in Rome.

Michael Kobold, who described himself as a close family friend, read a short statement to reporters Thursday and said little more about the circumstances of Gandolfini's fatal attack. He did not say who discovered Gandolfini.

Gandolfini, star of "The Sopranos," was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at a Rome hospital late Wednesday night.

Gandolfni had appeared in advertisements for Kobold's company, Kobold Watches.