Part of the haunting power of is that it feels like a closed world. Re-watch the series today and you’ll notice something eerie: a handful of familiar faces have either passed away or seemed to vanish from the screen entirely. For fans, that mix of real-life loss and quiet retirement has turned a few cast members into almost mythic figures —

The ones we lost too soon

The most famous absence is, of course, James Gandolfini.

The man who embodied Tony Soprano died in June 2013 of a heart attack while on a trip to Italy, aged just 51. His sudden death felt like a continuation of the show’s tragedy: the complicated, tormented patriarch gone long before his time.

Several other key players are now gone as well:

Tony Sirico (Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri)

The article is not finished. Click on the next page to continue.