James Caan: 1940 - 2022

Actor James Caan has passed away at the age of 82. 

 

Born James Edmund Caan in the Bronx, NY, in 1940, Caan picked up an interest in acting while attending Hofstra University, and would later transfer to New York City’s Playhouse School of the Theatre. He would appear off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole. 

 

His first film role came in the 1964 thriller LADY IN A CAGE. He would land roles on television in THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR and WAGON TRAIN before hitting his first starring role: Howard Hawks’ auto-racing drama RED LINE 7000. He would then star in Robert Altman’s COUNTDOWN (1968), before meeting Francis Ford Coppola and appearing in his THE RAIN PEOPLE (1969). 

 

After appearing in the TV drama movie BRAIN’S SONG (1971), a role that would earn him an Emmy nomination, he would re-unite with Coppola by taking on the role of Sonny Corleone in THE GODFATHER (1972). Caan would earn an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, competing against his co-stars Al Pacino and Robert Duvall. He would reprise the role in a brief cameo in THE GODFATHER PART II (1974). 

 

Now established as a leading man, he would play in successful films and earn praise for his work in FUNNY LADY (1975), ROLLERBALL (1975), Mel Brooks’ SILENT MOVIE (1976), A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977), and COMES A HORSEMAN (1978). In 1981 he would star as a professional safe-cracker in Michael Mann’s THIEF; a film that over time would earn a large cult following. 

 

Roles in the 1980’s into the 1990’s would include Coppola’s GARDENS OF STONE (1987), ALIEN NATION (1988), DICK TRACY (1990), MISERY (1990), and HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (1992). He would appear in Wes Anderson’s directorial debut BOTTLE ROCKET in 1996, star with Arnold Schwarzenegger in ERASER (1998), and be a gangster again in MICKEY BLUE EYES (1999). 

 

Other significant roles would include ELF (2003), DOGVILLE (2003), GET SMART (2008), and would provide voiceover work for the animated films CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (2009 and 2013). 

 

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For those of us who grew up with cinema in the 1970’s, our lasting image of James Caan would probably be his tragic and bloody character death in THE GODFATHER, when his character of gangster Sonny Corleone is gunned down at a toll booth. Just as JAWS (1975), had us all afraid of the water, his iconic scene at would have us looking over our shoulders at every toll booth in America. His death scene resonated because Caan made the character of Sonny a relatable one; not just a gangster but a protective big brother and son…temperamental but dedicated. It was one of many roles that Caan put everything he had into it; 100% and pedal-to-the-metal. From gangsters to footballers to fathers of Christmas elves, Caan created characters that no one could refuse.