Emmys 2013: Edie Falco pays tribute to James Gandolfini

In the fifth and final special “In Memoriam” tribute at tonight’s Emmy Awards, four-time Emmy winner Edie Falco delivered an emotional farewell to her longtime colleague and friend James Gandolfini — who died suddenly of a heart attack this past June.

Falco painted a portrait of a gentle, compassionate man who was nothing like the brutal mobster he played on HBO’s The Sopranos. “If you needed anything at all, ever, Jim was there to take care of it before you even had a chance to ask,” Falco said, visibly fighting tears. “You all knew James Gandolfini the actor. I was lucky enough to know Jim the man for 10 years as his close colleague and his pretend life partner, and for many more years as his friend. And it’s Jim the man, the very dear man, that I will miss most of all.”

See Falco’s speech below — but be sure to grab a hanky first.