James Gandolfini (INFphoto.com)
Sandra Lee
HEARTBREAK: James Gandolfini was found keeled over in this hotel-suite bathroom by his son. (
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ROME — The luxury hotel suite where actor James Gandolfini suffered a fatal heart attack is now occupied by Gov. Cuomo’s girlfriend, Sandra Lee, The Post has learned.
The “Sopranos” star keeled over in Room 449 of the Boscolo Exedra Roma less than two hours after downing eight drinks with a fatty meal of fried shrimp and foie gras Wednesday night.
The hotel wasted no time getting another guest into the room on Thursday morning — and Lee checked in yesterday.
New York’s first lady arrived from France with her sister and young nieces, who live in Westchester.
“Oh, my God. No way. I can’t believe it,” one of her nieces said.
A source close to Lee said they have “a couple of rooms. This is one of them.”
The famous foodie was “saddened” when told the Hollywood heavyweight had gone into cardiac arrest in one of their rooms, the source said.
The high-ceilinged fourth-floor room overlooks the Piazza Della Repubblica. The art-deco room costs about $671 a night.
The stricken Gandolfini was found in the bathroom by his 13-year-old son, Michael, at around 10 p.m. The 51-year-old screen star was declared dead an hour later at the Policlinico Umberto I Hospital.
A hotel source told The Post Gandolfini spent his last night dining and drinking like a Roman emperor.
He had two back-to-back helpings of fried prawns with sides of chili mayonnaise and a big helping of foie gras.
He washed it down with two pina coladas — each with a pair of rum sidecars — and followed that with two beers, the source said.
The stricken actor was carried out of the hotel bare-chested by six men.
A family friend insisted Gandolfini did not have heart troubles.
“No. He was happy. He was healthy,” he said. “He was doing really fine.”
The barrel-chested TV wiseguy, who battled with drugs and alcohol, died of natural causes, the friend said, citing the results of the autopsy.
“Nothing else was found in his system,” said family friend and spokesman Michael Kobold.
Gandolfini’s body will be flown back to the States by Wednesday or Thursday, and the Jersey boy’s funeral will be held in New York.
“In Italy, it can take up to 10 days to get all the necessary documents and paperwork to repatriate the body. We are looking forward to working with the Italian government and officials to shorten that process,” Kobold said.
“It looks like they’re doing everything on their end, which is wonderful, so that we can get Jim’s body back sooner. And once we have the clearance, we will put him on a flight to America.”
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MEDIA
Gandolfini came to Rome the day before his death.
“He had a wonderful day. He visited the Vatican and had dinner at the hotel with his son, awaiting the arrival of his [Gandolfini’s] sister,” Kobold said.
“He was on vacation with his son. He has an 8-month-old daughter. Everything was going really great. I just spoke to him on Father’s Day. He was fine. He was happy,” Kobold said.
Leta Gandolfini visited her brother’s body yesterday in the morgue.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said flags at state buildings would be flown at half-staff on Monday in honor of Gandolfini.
“James Gandolfini was an iconic actor and will be remembered for the timeless impact he left upon television and film in the state of New Jersey and across our nation,” he said.
Gandolfini’s death came as more revelations about his substance-abuse problems emerged.
A source told The Post he was known “to blow lines and drink like an Irish sailor on weekend leave.”
His ex-wife alleged that he would go on benders that could last as long as two weeks — and that he did cocaine with “Sopranos” castmates and had kinky sex with other women.
Meanwhile, Gandolfini’s widow, Deborah Lin, was spotted out in public for the first time since his death — shopping in a mall near LA, TMZ reported.
Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the closing of the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily today.
He was supposed to receive an award at the event and even teach a class in the coastal town.
Additional reporting by Dan MacLeod