Steve Van Zandt has marked the occasion of what would have been the late actor James Gandolfini’s 60th birthday on social media.
The guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band starred alongside Gandolfini in The Sopranos as Silvio Dante. The pair remained friends until Gandolfini’s death in 2013, aged 51.
Van Zandt posted a photo to Twitter on Sunday (September 18), along with the caption: “Happy Birthday Jimmy. Miss you every day.”
Following Gandolfini’s death while vactioning in Italy, Van Zandt was among the countless co-stars and fans to pay tribute online.
“I have lost a brother and a best friend,” he wrote at the time. “The world has lost one of the greatest actors of all time.”
Happy Birthday Jimmy. Miss you every day. pic.twitter.com/Lpm2BYKnpZ
— 🕉Stevie Van Zandt☮️ (@StevieVanZandt) September 19, 2022
Back in June, Van Zandt recounted how Gandolfini gave cast members on The Sopranos a share of a “big” pay rise he received while on the show.
When asked about whether or not Gandolfini “gave each actor [in] The Sopranos $33,000 of his own money”, Van Zandt confirmed that he did – though not to settle a “salary dispute” as had been reported previously.
Last month (August 30) The Sopranos actor Robert LuPone died aged 76, making him the latest of several cast members – also including Paul Herman, Rae Allen, Bruce MacVittie, and Tony Sirico – to die in 2022.