James Caan

With the untimely passing of James Caan earlier today, stories from folks like Adam Sandler have highlighted just what it was like to work with the man.

From those earlier times working together on The Rain People, and throughout all the milestones of my life, his films and the many great roles he played will never be forgotten. James Caan’s legacy wasn’t only limited to his performances, as he was apparently quite the raconteur. Earlier today, the world was saddened by the announcement that iconic actor James Caan had died at the age of 82.

James Caan was married four times during his 82 years of life. Learn everything there is to know about the Oscar nominated actor's most important romantic ...

The actor ended the marriage from his longtime wife in 2016. But Dee and James did welcome a daughter, Tara Caan, 57, in 1964. But that union was even more short-lived, ending the following year in 1977. James married actress Dee Jay Mathis in 1961, and it was a relatively short-lived affair. From a comedic role in Elf to an iconic role in TV’s Las Vegas to voice gigs in The Simpsons and Family Guy, James proved he was capable of just about any genre in acting. While the Misery star ultimately wound up single at the end of his life, he did find love through each stage of his career, first marrying Dee Jay Mathis in 1961.

Drama, comedy, suspense, action, kids' movies — there was truly nothing he couldn't do. Who else could star in both “The Godfather” and “Elf”?

Caan spent much of the ’80s in a self-imposed exile, burned out from his busy ’70s, battling addictions and caring for his children. Caan may have had visions of John Travolta’s “Pulp Fiction” comeback when he accepted a supporting role in the up-and-coming Wes Anderson’s debut feature, a cockeyed caper picture about a crew of incompetent criminals. Set in the then-distant future of 2018, it’s a prescient warning of the dangers of corporate overreach, overt violence and class warfare in sports entertainment — and society in general — and Caan conveys both the character’s fierce physicality and his intellect with ease. On paper, the character is reprehensible — but Caan invests him with a lovelorn sweetness that lends the picture, and its central conflict, some unexpected ripples. As with most of the actors associated with “The Godfather,” Caan was quickly elevated to leading roles in the wake of its astonishing success. Caan wears the heaviness of the character like a winter coat; he does what he has to do to get by, forever grasping for the last big score that always seems just out of reach. Caan’s breakthrough role came the following year in Francis Ford Coppola’s sensational adaptation of the best seller by Mario Puzo. The director — who had used Caan to great effect, in a much gentler role, in “The Rain People” (1969) — cast the actor as Sonny, the hot-tempered oldest brother in the Corleone clan. Caan and Williams’s easy rapport sells the relationship, and Caan is truly heartbreaking in the closing scenes, which prove a too-rare showcase for his tenderness and warmth. More than that, he had maintained an active presence on Twitter, frequently sharing images from his films and memories of his collaborators and always concluding his messages with the phrase “End of tweet.” Few actors understood that character like Caan, who plays the safecracker, jewel thief and ex-con Frank as a man who will break the law but not his moral code, and who so longs for the fruits of his labor that he carries around a collage of his imagined perfect, suburban life like a mobile vision board. But just the year before, he had starred in a film still remembered for its ability to make men cry. The best of that bunch may well have been this spiky tale of a privileged English professor who finds that his high-society pedigree and formidable intellect are no match for a spiraling gambling addiction.

Oscar-nominated actor toured Etzion Bloc in 2016, urged Israel not to withdraw to 1967 lines; in 2019's 'Holy Lands,' played retired cardiologist who moves ...

The following year he played a tongue-in-cheek version of Sonny Corleone in the comedy “Honeymoon in Vegas.” He also made a brief appearance in a flashback sequence in “The Godfather: Part II.” On a 2016 visit to Israel, Caan toured Jewish settlements in the West Bank and urged Israel not to return to its pre-1967 lines. Sonny Corleone, a violent and reckless man who conducted many killings, met his own end in one of the most jarring movie scenes in history. He played football for two years at Michigan State University, where he was a member of the Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Bronx-born Caan was the child of Jewish immigrants from Germany — Sophie Falkenstein and Arthur Caan, a kosher butcher.

James Caan, the US actor best known for playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, has died aged 82, his manager said Thursday.

"Unlike actors that hide, or that don't like to give autographs or be recognised... Caan's manager confirmed the news to AFP. Love to the family." And the only Jew I knew who could calf rope with the best of them. "His films and the many great roles he played will never be forgotten. A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend.

To film buffs, James Caan was a screen legend, but to a younger audience he's the grumpy dad from Elf. Here's your guide to his most iconic roles.

But Caan — who actually learned to crack a real safe on his own — carries the film, and often spoke about it as the movie he was most proud of. "There was one guy playing a photographer who had one of those old box cameras and, as I went in there, I grabbed the friggin' thing and I smashed it, literally threw it on the ground," he said. In an interview for the film's 50th anniversary, Caan said he "just let go" and was given "a certain amount of freedom", and it shows.

Al Pacino, Barbra Streisand, and Adam Sandler are among the celebrities who reacted to actor James Caan's death on Thursday.

Hollywood paid tribute to the legendary James Caan following news of his death at the age of 82 on Thursday, with many of Caan’s co-stars and friends sharing remembrances of the late actor. From those earlier times working together on The Rain People, and throughout all the milestones of my life, his films and the many great roles he played will never be forgotten. Hollywood paid tribute to the legendary James Caan following news of

Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De Niro lead the tributes to the late Godfather actor.

"A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend," he added. "Jimmy was not just a great actor with total commitment and a venturesome spirit, but he had a vitality in the core of his being that drove everything from his art and friendship to athletics and very good times," he said in a statement. Joe Mantegna, who appeared in the third film in the Godfather series, paid his respects over Twitter. "One of the great gifts in being part of The Godfather family was becoming friends with James Caan. Rest In Peace Jimmy," he posted. Talia Shire, who played Caan's on-screen sister Connie Corleone told PA he was "a good man, a kind man, a family man, and a wildly gifted man - whose great talent will always be loved and remembered." Pacino, who starred as Michael Corleone, described him as a "great actor" and a "dear friend". Speaking of his "fictional brother and lifelong friend", Pacino said: "It's hard to believe that he won't be in the world any more because he was so alive and daring.

Superb actor whose defining role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather found echoes in his colourful personal life.

In later years, Caan was content to have the security of a popular TV series, Las Vegas (2003-07), appearing as a former CIA agent now the head of security at the fictional Montecito resort and casino. In The Rain People, the first of the three films Caan made with Coppola, a certain vulnerability and warmth surfaced as he played a soft-hearted drifter. While studying at Hofstra, he became interested in acting and was soon taken on by the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York, where he studied under Sanford Meisner, whose technique was allied to the method. His first role was as a young thug terrorising Olivia de Havilland in Lady in a Cage (1964). Tough insouciance was his style, well suited to handsome but rather emotionless features. When his brother Ronnie was held at gunpoint by gangsters, Caan enlisted the help of his mafia pal Anthony “the Animal” Fiato. Caan arranged to meet and pay the kidnappers, then arrived with Fiato and his crew with guns and baseball bats. His first and last directorial effort, Hide in Plain Sight (1980), in which he starred as a man in search of his ex-wife and children, was generally given a chilly critical reception. Although he received professional help and was cured of the addiction, he was unemployable in Hollywood. After attending various schools, he entered two universities, Michigan State University, at which he was a football hero, and Hofstra University, Long Island, but failed to graduate from either. (The matter was settled out of court.) Then came the morning when he woke up in a friend’s flat to find 10 Los Angeles policemen standing over him with guns drawn. His defining role came as Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). Caan, who was nominated for an Oscar, was perfect as the hedonistic and volatile heir apparent to the Corleone family, whose bloody ways end in his own death. On another occasion, the FBI intercepted a phone conversation between Fiato and Caan concerning the actor Joe Pesci. Caan asked his friend to “take care” of Pesci after learning about an unpaid $8,000 bill from Pesci’s stay at a friend’s Miami hotel. More violence came his way as the brutal CIA man in Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite and, in contrast, he portrayed Billy Rose, the gambling, philandering husband of Barbra Streisand’s Fanny Brice in Funny Lady, all in the same year.

James Caan's legacy will still stay strong. The "Godfather" alum died Wednesday at the age of 82 and he completed his last film "Fast Charlie” shortly ...

Love to the family,” director Rob Reiner said. “So sorry to hear the news. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time,” the statement on his account read. He will always be my old friend from Sunnyside, my collaborator and one of the funniest people I’ve ever known.” Baccarin will portray Marcie, the ex-wife of a mobster who Charlie previously killed. When a rival boss moves to eliminate Stan and his entire team, he fails in wiping the team clean.

Born in 1940, James Caan starred in several popular Hollywood films, and eve earned an Oscar nomination for the portrayal of Sonny Carlene in the 1972 cult ...

He also appeared in the TV dramas like 'Las Vegas’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0’. However, the real shot of fame in his armour came with his portrayal of hotheadedSonny Corleonein the 1972 cult movie ‘The Godfather’. For his role as the oldest son of mobster Vito Corleone, James Caan earned a lot of praises and even an The family members also requested to respect their privacy in these tough times. He also appeared in the TV dramas like 'Las Vegas’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0’. However, the real shot of fame in his armour came with his portrayal of hotheaded The family members also requested to respect their privacy in these tough times.

The late Hollywood legend James Caan, star of The Godfather, has had a superb movie career that extends well beyond his most famous role as Sonny Corleone.

Caan never winks or acts like he’s in a comedy; he’s bewildered and even a little afraid of Buddy and (reasonably) wants nothing to do with him, but once he realizes the truth that he’s his son, he takes him in anyway … and learns to love him, just like the rest of us. “Oh, he’s a fucking wacko!” Caan would later say of von Trier, recalling that his big scene in the car with Kidman required him “sitting in the back of this thing for hours. Lars von Trier’s poisonous diatribe on the hypocrisy of small-town American “values,” Dogville builds to its final revelation, which is that Nicole Kidman’s innocent victim Grace is, in fact, the daughter of a powerful mobster, identified in the credits only as “the Big Man.” When the character arrives, Caan plays him with a mixture of menace and parental tough love — not that he entirely enjoyed the experience of making the film. Of all the gangsters Caan would play after The Godfather, this one is the best. It was a good reminder of the soulfulness he could locate in even the most dishonest of individuals. In this James Gray drama, James Caan starred alongside Mark Wahlberg, who would remake one of Caan’s own films, The Gambler, more than a decade later. (His one Emmy nomination was for this film.) It is virtually guaranteed that an older male member of your family has cried watching Brian’s Song; the one-two punch of this and The Godfather made Caan a huge, huge star. Caan was in Texas for only two weeks to film Wes Anderson’s first movie, and Anderson would later wonder if Caan entirely understood what he was doing there with all those amateurs. (This was an ABC Movie of the Week.) But the power of Piccolo’s friendship with Hall of Famer Gale Sayers (played by Billy Dee Williams), along with the weepie script, won him over, and Brian’s Song was such a hit it was the highest-rated-ever TV movie at the time. What’s heartbreaking about Axel is that he’s smart enough to know better, but what The Gambler illustrates so convincingly is that “knowing better” means nothing to an addict, and Caan captures both the character’s confidence and despair, the roller coaster of emotions that feed him, even if self-destruction is the only possible outcome. Mann brought out a precision in Caan, who got a rare opportunity with Thief to enjoy a star vehicle, one that catered to his steely strengths. Anyone wanting to understand Caan’s appeal should start with Caan’s obvious highlight, 1972’s The Godfather, in which he plays Sonny, the volcanic eldest son in the Corleone family, whose graphic death is one of the most famous and harrowing in all of cinema.

Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De Niro lead the tributes to the late Godfather actor.

"A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend," he added. "Jimmy was not just a great actor with total commitment and a venturesome spirit, but he had a vitality in the core of his being that drove everything from his art and friendship to athletics and very good times," he said in a statement. Filmmaker Michael Mann, who directed Caan in the 1981 heist thriller Thief, described his death as a "terrible and tragic loss". Joe Mantegna, who appeared in the third film in the Godfather series, paid his respects over Twitter. "One of the great gifts in being part of The Godfather family was becoming friends with James Caan. Rest In Peace Jimmy," he posted. Pacino, who starred as Michael Corleone, described him as a "great actor" and a "dear friend". Speaking of his "fictional brother and lifelong friend", Pacino said: "It's hard to believe that he won't be in the world any more because he was so alive and daring.

Following actor James Caan's death, celebrities including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Adam Sandler and more paid tribute to the "Godfather" star.

"Wonderful to know him & call him a pal," Sinise wrote alongside a photo of the two. "He was always supportive of my career. A highlight of my career," he added. "James Caan always had the funniest stories," Jennifer Tilly tweeted. "Always wanted to be like him. "Jimmy was my fictional brother and my lifelong friend," said Pacino in a statement to The Associated Press. "It's hard to believe that he won't be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring.

Everybody's got a favorite James Caan performance. You could fill a pool with the tears spilled over Brian's Song, especially when Brian Piccolo succumbs to ...

Hot off his success writing The Usual Suspects, Christopher McQuarrie wrote and directed this convoluted and ultra-violent but engrossing thriller The Way Of The Gun. Benicio del Toro and Ryan Phillippe play criminals who see a big payday in kidnapping a woman (Juliette Lewis) who’s carrying a baby for an older man (Scott Wilson) and his much younger trophy wife (Kristin Lehman). Hmmm, bad idea. The trio connect with Mr. Henry (Caan), a more established criminal who sees the humor in everything and uses a semi-legit gardening business, Lawn Wranglers, as a front for his operations. Caan breezes through most of the movie looking stylish and oozing charm (especially in his scenes with the effervescent Parker) … until a character shift that Caan can’t sell because it just feels so wrong. It’s more of the same in the sequel, though in the second go-round, Tim teams up to help his son—a transformation that Caan makes us believe for more reasons than the script says so. Mr. Henry is a hero to the boys, and Caan delivers the character’s humor, tough love, and affection in equal measure. Misery runs 107 minutes, and Caan spends most of it confined to a bed, as his character, bestselling author Paul Sheldon, contends with unhinged fan Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). Bates won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance, and deservedly so, while Caan, who completes and complements her performance, didn’t even receive a Best Actor nomination. Every step of the way, Freebie and Bean are at each other’s throats (literally), wreaking havoc across San Fran in the process, as cars (lots of them) crash, guns are fired, and things go boom. Caan reunited with Francis Coppola for Gardens of Stone, a Vietnam War drama that as a whole ranks as a well-intentioned misfire. Caan was 25 years old when director Howard Hawks tapped him for a supporting role in El Dorado, a Western starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. His character, Alan Bourdillon Traherne, better known as Mississippi, is out for vengeance, a quest that catches the attention of Cole Thornton (Wayne) Sheriff Harrah (Mitchum). Thornton takes a liking to Mississippi, and they form a bond, though it’s not quite father-son. Oh, and the film is set deep in the future … 2018. His 137 acting credits date back to 1961, when he guest starred, credited as Jimmy Caan, on the TV shows Naked City and Route 66, and continued to the 2021 release Queen Bees (it includes a couple of upcoming films as well). In Caan’s honor, The A.V. Club takes a look back at 15 of his finest performances, listed in chronological order. He earned—and never lost—his tough-guy reputation as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. You hated him, but still feared for his Paul Sheldon in Misery. And you just knew he’d come around in time to boost the Santa-meter in Elf. Caan could—and did—do it all in his long and varied career.

Benicio del Toro paid tribute to James Caan at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

“I hear he used the hotel as a model, which is pretty funny.” And yet, it could have all gone very differently, as casting director Bonnie Timmermann reportedly considered the young actor for the lead role in Dirty Dancing. “I didn’t audition but what I understand is that she suggested me,” he said. “I call him The Dream,” he said of his The Way of the Gun co-star, who died this week at age 82. I had the opportunity to spend time with him, to work with him, to be with him; we went to Cuba together. There’s a lot more chance for actors and I think at the same time Latin actors. America has evolved a little bit, become more politically correct over the last 50 or 60 years — a big leap, not only for Latinos but for many other minorities.”

'He never stopped being loyal,' Donald Soffer tells PEOPLE of longtime friend James Caan, who died Wednesday at age 82.

He acted like a tough guy, especially if someone bad-mouthed a pal. But while Caan "played a criminal" in The Godfather and "liked to act that way in real life," Soffer says "he was a good guy who was a friend when he said he was a friend." Then I didn't see him until three weeks later!"

'My heart has a deep sorrow this day for your passing,' Pierce Brosnan wrote of his 'Fast Charlie' costar James Caan, who died Wednesday at 82 years old.

A cause of death was not made immediately available. On Friday, Brosnan, 69, shared a series of photos from the set of Caan's final film, Fast Charlie, which is scheduled for release next year. Caan died Wednesday at the age of 82.

Caan was best known for playing Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather.” But to me, he'll forever be the tragic footballer of “Brian's Song.”

“Brian’s Song” came at the start of a decade of magnificent filmmaking, but it was not a great movie. It was an argument in favor of caring, the case for giving a damn. Here’s a commercial for coffee at Christmas. Here’s a sappy old song on the radio. Caan went on to play Sonny Corleone in arguably the best of those 1970s masterpieces, “The Godfather.” His performance earned an Oscar nomination. It was a statement of intense feeling that neither hid nor apologized for its heart. “Brian’s Song” was a love story to the sound of crashing shoulder pads and trilling whistles, with a haunting theme song that soon filled the radio airwaves. It was a shocking statement to the wartime generation and its sons, boldly naming a feeling we craved despite its fearsome power. Even the Bible pauses for this two-word verse: “Jesus wept.” But there was a damming of the tear ducts among men who knew the love and loss of comrades from Ypres to Iwo Jima to Ia Drang. Sayers was Black. Piccolo was White. Their brief and glorious friendship suggested that healing might be possible, even as Piccolo’s death at 26 warned of its evanescence. The literature of past ages is full of tears of joy, of sorrow, of pride, of wonder. “I love Brian Piccolo,” Sayers declared — in life and in the movie. But we had no words for such a concept because we weren’t in touch with our feelings.

He also starred in the TV drama “Brian's Song” and proved, beyond his tough-guy exterior, a versatile performer of wry expressiveness and unexpected ...

James Edmund Caan was an athletic kid from the Bronx, the son of German-Jewish immigrants who grew up to play tough movie guys: sailors, football players, ...

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James Caan, who portrayed the hot-headed, ill-fated mobster Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather," has died at the age of 82, his family announced on Twitter.

"The Godfather," released in 1972, is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made and is considered – well – the godfather of the gangster genre. Caan appeared in almost 100 movies over the course of his career. "The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time."

James Caan, known for iconic films like The Godfather and Misery, has died, according to his family.

James Caan would later go on to play author Paul Sheldon in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. Being subjected to the torments of Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes would see a more vulnerable Caan out to play, and Bates nabbed an Academy Award acting opposite him. Fittingly enough, when Caan reflected on his career’s origins through acting lessons, the actor admitted to The New York Times, “Of course all my improvs ended in violence." Celebrating a new 50th anniversary 4K reissue, Francis Ford Coppola’s crime saga is one of the first that comes to mind when thinking back on the actor’s career.

James Caan, the veteran screen actor known for his work in such films as "The Godfather," "Misery" and "Elf," has died, his family said in a statement on ...

Coppola gave him one of his first roles, as a drifter in the 1969 drama "The Rain People." "Very sad to hear the news that James Caan has died. He played football at Michigan State and later began studying acting as a student at Hofstra University, where one of his classmates was "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola. I was just locked into that," he said of his performance. Caan first found fame playing Chicago Bears halfback Brian Piccolo in "Brian's Song," a widely seen 1971 TV movie. "The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time."

He's also well known for work in "Brian's Song," "Misery," and NBC's "Las Vegas."

Love to the family." "So sorry to hear the news. He twitted a picture of he and Brando on June 10 with the simple message: "The Best. End of tweet."

American actor James Caan, who starred as gangster Sonny Corleone in epic mafia film “The Godfather,” has died at age 82, his family said in a statement on ...

His movies were best of the best,” Sandler said on Twitter. So happy I got to know him. His movies were best of the best. The role earned Caan an Emmy nomination. Always wanted to be like him. “The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time,” the statement said.