From Susan Sarandon to Steven van Zandt: The great and the good take to Twitter to express grief over The Sopranos' James Gandolfini's death

@RoseMcGowan: I am heartbroken about James Gandolfini. He was a gentle giant and great man. I love this picture, I loved him. (@RoseMcGowan)

Luminaries of the stage and silver screen rushed to pay tribute to actor James Gandolfini who passed away suddenly of a suspected heart attack aged 51.

Susan Sarandon, who worked with Gandolfini on Romance & Cigarettes in 2005, called him “one of the sweetest, funniest, most generous actors I’ve ever worked with”.

The actor’s God of Carnage co-star Jeff Daniels called him “a great friend” while Steve Carell expressed shock at the “unbelievably sad news” and paid tribute to “a fine man”.

Bette Midler, who co-starred with Gandolfini in the film thought to have paved the way for his turn as Tony Soprano, Get Shorty (1995) also took to Twitter to pay tribute to a “great” actor.

Several actors, including Rose McGowan (who described him as “a gentle giant and great man”) and Daniels, posted photographs of themselves with Gandolfini.

Musician Steven van Zandt, who played Tony Soprano’s right hand man Silvio Dante, wrote that the world has lost one of the greatest actors of all time and that he himself had lost “a brother and a best friend”.

Mia Farrow lamented the “awful news” about such a “great actor”, while Lindsay Lohan, who is currently in rehab, expressed her condolences via “team Lohan” with the words “James Gandolfini was a dear friend and a great man. My heart goes out to his family. He will be greatly missed.”

Gandolfini’s In The Loop co-star Chris Addison called him “A colossus in all respects. He could do it all but I loved his gift for comedy. RIP General Miller.”