JAMES GANDOLFINI - GANDOLFINI CHOKED ON HIS SALIVA ONSTAGE

GANDOLFINI CHOKED ON HIS SALIVA ONSTAGE

JAMES GANDOLFINI had to take an emergency break during a performance on Broadway last week, after choking on his own saliva onstage.
The Sopranos actor appears alongside Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden in the Tony-nominated play God of Carnage, about two sets of parents who meet after their sons are involved in a fight.
Thursday (14May09) night's performance came to an impromptu halt midway through when a spluttering Gandolfini was forced to dash from the stage.
An audience member tells the New York Post, "He was onstage drinking and smoking a cigar, and he forgot his lines. He had to start over from the beginning of the scene."
But a spokesperson for the production reveals Gandolfini had to stay cool while fighting for breath, telling the newspaper, "James choked on his own saliva and couldn't speak, so he went off and got a drink of water and they started again."