James Caan, the American actor known for his role as Sonny Corleone in the epic mob The Godfather, as well as a series of key films from the 1970s, has died at the age of 82.
The news was posted on his Twitter account on Thursday. A statement said:
“It is with great sadness that we inform you of Jimmy’s death on the evening of July 6. The family is grateful for the outpouring of love and condolences and asks you to continue to respect his privacy during this difficult time.”
Known for a hellish party lifestyle, Caan cut Hollywood in the 1970s and early 1980s, before he stopped acting abruptly and for what the actor described as a “pretty scary period” that disappeared from view. public, before crafting a return at the end. 1980, winning accolades for films such as Misery, The Yards and Elf.
Caan was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York, the son of a kosher butcher. Eager not to follow his father in the meat trade, Caan initially aimed for a career as a football player, but became interested in acting after studying at Hofstra University in the state of New York. York, where he met future collaborator Francis Ford Coppola. Later, Caan joined the theater school of the neighborhood theater house; his first significant credit as an actor was a small role in the 1961 Broadway production Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole, a World War II play by William Goldman and his brother James.
After a series of minor film and television appearances, Caan landed the lead role in the 1965 Howard Hawks Red Line 7000 stock car racing drama, then starring opposite John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in the 1966 Hawks’ El Dorado western. Caan was cast by the then little-considered Robert Altman in the 1967 space film Countdown, but his first significant association with the new wave of Hollywood came with the film 1969 film The Rain People, directed by Coppola, in which Caan played a hitchhiking old university. soccer star who is picked up by Shirley Knight’s dissatisfied middle-class housewife.
Caan, right, as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, starring Al Pacino. Photo: Allstar / PARAMOUNT PICTURES
After starring in a disappointing 1970 adaptation of John Updike’s famous novel Rabbit, Run, Caan made a breakthrough with Coppola’s The Godfather. Originally, Caan auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone who eventually went to Al Pacino, and was favored by studio executives, but after Coppola insisted on Pacino, Caan was given another role, the older brother. of Corleone, Sonny. Caan received his only Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor, for the film, and his work continues to be highlighted by the horrifying scene of Sonny’s death, for which Caan said he was equip more than 140 “squibs,” or explosive blood pellets, to simulate bullet wounds. .
Caan then starred in a series of high-profile films in the 1970s that firmly integrated him into the new generation of American acting talent, including The Gambler (directed by Karel Reisz), the hit comedy. of police Freebie and the Bean alongside Alan Arkin, and the dystopian science fiction parable Rollerball. He also appeared in more traditional vehicles, such as Barbra Streisand’s musical Funny Lady and World War II epic A Bridge Too Far. Caan also became famous for the roles he turned down, such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Apocalypse Now and Kramer Vs Kramer.
Thief, released in 1981 and directed by Michael Mann, in which Caan played a mafia-facing laundry, bodes well for his ability to reinvent himself for the new decade, but his career of Caan derailed quickly. Affected by the death of his sister and his heavy drug use, Caan’s career imploded after he abandoned Robert Ludlum’s thriller The Holcroft Covenant (he was replaced by Michael Caine). Caan did not appear in another Hollywood film until 1987, when Coppola put him in his Vietnam War drama Stone Gardens of Stone. It was followed by the popular Alien Nation, but was completely restored with the adaptation of Stephen King Misery, directed by Rob Reiner, in which Caan played the author bed subject to the attentions of the obsessive nurse / fan Kathy Bates .
Caan, right, with Kathy Bates in Misery. Photography: Allstar / COLUMBIA
Caan worked steadily from then on, often negotiating with his abrasive manner and reputation for hard life. He appears in comedies such as Honeymoon in Vegas, Bulletproof and Mickey Blue Eyes, Hollywood thrillers such as Flesh and Bone, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Eraser, and occasional prestigious dramas, including The Yards, an extensive film. epic of crime directed by James Gray and the Brechtian parable Dogville by Lars von Trier. Caan also played a role in the hit animation Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and in the memorable Christmas comedy Elf, as the father of Will Ferrell’s businessman. In 2018 he appeared in the Carol Amley adaptation of Martin Moris Out of Blue, as the father of murder victim Jennifer Rockwell.
Caan married four times: between 1961 and 1966 to Dee Jay Mathis, to Sheila Marie Ryan between 1975 and 76, to Ingrid Hajek between 1990 and 94 and to Linda Stokes between 1995 and 2017. He had five children, one of whom, Scott, followed him to act, appearing in Gone in 60 Seconds, Ocean’s Eleven and the reboot of Hawaii Five-0.
Tributes have begun to come from social media, including Rob Reiner, who directed Caan in Misery. “I’m sorry to hear the news,” he tweeted. “I loved working with him. And the only Jew I knew who could raise rope with the best of them. Love the family.”
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn also tweeted, “Rest in peace James Caan. There are so many of his I love movies” along with a collection of posters.