10 Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths (5 of 6)

James Gandolfini

In his role as Tony Soprano on the hit crime drama show The Sopranos, James Gandolfini played the ultimate anti-hero. For his efforts, he won three Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series. But the level of intensity that he displayed and the methods that he used to make his performance more authentic, such as staying up all night before the shoot or drinking multiple cups of coffee, took a toll on his health, as did a substance abuse problem. On a sweltering hot June 19th, 2013 while on vacation in Rome, his son Michael discovered him unconscious on the bathroom floor at the hotel where they were staying. Forty minutes later, he was pronounced dead from a heart attack at the age of 51.

Robin Williams

Very few people in the entertainment industry were as beloved as Robin Williams. The roles that he played, whether it be the progressive English teacher John Keating in Dead Poet’s Society, the authentic, compassionate therapist Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting, or the energetic, loveable genie in Disney’s animated Aladdin, we as the audience felt like the characters were an extension of who Williams was in real-life. And so when it was announced on August 11th, 2014 that the actor had committed suicide after the suffering caused by Lewy body dementia became too much to bear.