The 82-year-old American actor James Caan, best known for his portrayal of Sonny Corleone in the mob drama The Godfather and a run of memorable roles in the 1970s, has died.
A kosher butcher’s son from the Bronx, Caan, was born in 1940. Caan, who didn’t want to go into the meat business like his father, first wanted to be a football player. But while studying at Hofstra University in New York, where he met future partner Francis Ford Coppola, he became interested in acting.
His first prominent acting part was in Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole, written by William Goldman and his brother James. Caan then attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
When Howard Hawks released Red Line 7000 and El Dorado in 1965 and 1966, respectively, Caan became a leading actor after a succession of lesser roles in films and television shows.
Robert Altman cast Caan in the 1967 space film Countdown, but it wasn’t until 1969’s The Rain People, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, that Caan first became associated with the Hollywood new wave. Caan played a hitchhiking former college football star who is picked up by Shirley Knight’s dissatisfied middle-class housewife, played by Shirley Knight.
Latest posts by GSR (see all)
- Letitia James Holds Victory Press Conference - February 24, 2024
- Is Kevin Costner Leaving Yellowstone? - February 8, 2024
- Was Kim Petras Born Male | Is Kim Petras Transgender? - February 8, 2024
- Napoleon Movie Release Date, Cast - February 8, 2024
- Is Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken streaming on Disney+? - February 7, 2024