Fellow actors mourned actor James Gandolfini as a great craftsman at his funeral on Thursday (June 27), a week after the 51-year-old star of the HBO television show "The Sopranos" died of a heart attack while visiting Rome.

The actor's wife, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, friends, and David Chase, the creator and executive producer of "The Sopranos" spoke during the ceremony for the actor whose performance as the burly, cigar-smoking New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano made him a household name.

Edie Falco, who played Tony Soprano's wife in the show, and many other cast members attended the 90-minute ceremony at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in upper Manhattan.

Some fans managed to get into the funeral service and was open to the public.

"It was a great tribute to who he is and how he lived his life. And it was interesting to see his son as one of the pallbearers. It will be a loss we all feel," said Mikki Lam who got emotional while talking about Gandolfini's death.

Gandolfini collapsed in the bathroom of his hotel room in Rome while vacationing with his 13-year-old son, Michael. He had been scheduled to attend the closing of the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. His body was flown to the United States on Sunday.

Family friend Kevin Barry reflected on the private life of the popular, yet demure celebrity.

"He was just a young guy. Really nice guy too, people don't realize it - a shy guy. And a great father to his son, people don't realize that. He was really a true, true father to his son. And the last few years he seemed so happy with his new wife and new baby girl. He was a changed person, he really was," Barry said.

Presented by Adam Justice