NEW YORK: John Travolta has promised to care for the family of late actor James Gandolfini.
The ‘Sopranos’ star - who is survived by his wife Deborah Lin and their daughter Liliana, eight months - suffered a fatal heart attack on Wednesday (19.06.13) and his friend has vowed to return an old favour.
James had helped his former ‘Get Shorty’ co-star when his autistic son Jett died at the age of 16 after a seizure in 2009 and now his friend revealed he will look after his family, including son Michael, 13, from his first marriage.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning America’, he said: ‘’My goal is to make sure his family is OK. His little boy, I watched him grow up, and his brand new little girl. We’ll just make sure they’re taken care of.’’
The pair also starred together in ‘Lonely Hearts’ and ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’, and the 59-year-old actor revealed their long-standing friendship.
He added: ‘’My father sold tyres to his father. I was his inspiration to get into the business.’’
He also spoke kindly of James’ kind nature when Jett passed away.
He revealed: ‘’James went out of his way to come to Florida and he would not leave Florida until I was OK, or he felt that I would be fine.  ‘’After a week I said, ‘Jim you can really, you can, you know, we’ll be fine. I’ve got a lot of support here.’
‘’But the idea that in our profession someone would go out of their way and not want to leave you until he felt you were OK, that’s the kind of soul that James Gandolfini was.’’–ES