James Caan

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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Caan, best known for playing Sonny Corleone in 1970s gangster film, The Godfather, died on Wednesday, his family said.

He had begun to struggle with drug use and was devastated by the 1981 leukemia death of his sister, Barbara, who until then had been a guiding force in his career. Caan recounted becoming so angry when he realised the scene was not included that he walked out of the screening. For much of the 1980s he made no films, telling people he preferred to coach his son Scott’s Little League games. One of three siblings, Caan began acting on television in 1961. “It’s hard to believe that he won’t be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring. I just walked out of a picture at Paramount. I said you haven’t got enough money to make me go to work every day with a director I don’t like.” So happy I got to know him. The statement was posted on Caan’s Twitter account on Thursday but did not mention a cause of death. Always wanted to be like him. “Jimmy made it so funny,” said Duvall. “I’ve done pictures where I’d rather do time. In an article in the Hollywood Reporter marking the 50-year anniversary of the first Godfather film this year, actor Robert Duvall said that Caan was a buoyant presence on the set and made the first film the most fun to work on.

James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of The Godfather and to television audiences as both the dying ...

He also made a brief appearance in a flashback sequence in The Godfather, Part II. But by the early 1980s, he began to sour on films. Before he can escape he is cut down by a seemingly endless fusillade of machine-gun fire. "Jimmy was one of the greatest. Rob Reiner, who directed Caan in Misery tweeted, "I loved working with him. "Our relationship was always friendship before business.

The US actor rose to fame for his portrayal of Sonny Corleone in the mafia film.

End of tweet." They say never meet your heroes, but he proved that to be very very wrong". In his later years, he would become prolific on Twitter, building a large following and often capping his posts with the phrase "End of tweet". Caan briefly disappeared from public view in the early 1980s during what he has described as "a pretty scary period" brought on by drug use and his sister's death. He had originally auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone, and was reportedly favoured for the role by studio executives. Among the tributes to Caan, fellow actor Gary Sinise wrote on Twitter that it had been "wonderful to know him and call him a pal", while filmmaker Rob Reiner said he "loved working with him".

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.

Actor James Caan, who starred as gangster Santino "Sonny" Corleone in classic film The Godfather has died aged 82.

Love to the family." "So sorry to hear the news. "Jimmy was one of the greatest. Caan has 5 children, one of which also pursued an acting career. Friend and fellow actor Gary Sinise expressed his sadness at the news, writing on social media that he was "heartbroken for his family and friends" and that it had been "wonderful to know him and call him a pal." "Our relationship was always friendship before business.

James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as both the dying ...

Once again in demand, Caan starred in “For the Boys” with Bette Midler in 1991 as part of a song-and-dance team entertaining US soldiers during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Born March 26, 1939, in New York City, Caan was the son of a kosher meat wholesaler. Caan didn’t take a starring role in a TV series until 2003 but his first effort, “Las Vegas,” was an immediate hit. He also made a brief appearance in a flashback sequence in “The Godfather, Part II.” Caan left the show during the fourth season and it was later cancelled. Caan was already a star on television, breaking through in the 1971 TV movie “Brian’s Song,” an emotional drama about Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, who had died of cancer the year before at age 26. For much of the 1980s he made no films, telling people he preferred to coach his son Scott’s Little League games. I just walked out of a picture at Paramount. I said you haven’t got enough money to make me go to work every day with a director I don’t like.” Despite Coppola’s fears he had made a flop, the 1972 release was an enormous critical and commercial success and brought supporting actor Oscar nominations for Caan, Duvall and Pacino. He managed a long career despite drug problems, outbursts of temper and minor brushes with the law. Before he can escape he is cut down by a seemingly endless fusillade of machine-gun fire. A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend.

Sad news from the world of movies, as actor James Caan died Wednesday, his family announced on his Twitter account. Caan, 82, had a film and television ...

During his time as an actor, Caan, who played football at Michigan State in the 1950s, was also well-known for playing roles in several iconic sports movies. Early in his career, Caan starred in " Brian's Song," where he played the role of Brian Piccolo, the real-life Chicago Bears halfback who died of cancer at age 26. Caan, 82, had a film and television career that spanned seven decades.

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.

The role earned Caan an Emmy nomination. He gained widespread acclaim for his role in the 1971 TV movie "Brian's Song," in which he played real-life Chicago Bears football player Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer at age 26. Other nominations included four Golden Globes and an Emmy.

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.

David Reid of Rothesay became James Caan's golfing buddy during the late actor's time in Saint John making the film Jericho Mansions.

He really was one of the guys." "He was one of the guys. "And I think we spent so much time with him because he did feel comfortable with the fact that we were comfortable with him and we weren't mauling him or anything like that. "I don't know how many rounds we played, but I'm going to say we played three or four or five rounds over the week. "I was very, very comfortable with it. Caan died on Wednesday at the age of 82.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Caan, who died Wednesday at 82, according to a post from his family to his Twitter account, staked out rare ground in Hollywood as a Jew known for blockbuster ...

He also played Barbra Streisand’s love interest in “Funny Lady” (1975), a sequel to the Fanny Brice story in “Funny Girl.” One of his earliest roles, in the 1966 Howard Hawks classic western “El Dorado,” also gave him a longtime cowboy moniker. He played football for two years at Michigan State University, where he was a member of the Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.