Legendary actor James Caan has passed away.
The movie star, most famous for his roles in films like “The Godfather”, “Thief”, and “Misery”, died on the evening of July 6 at age 82.
News of Caan’s death was announced on his Twitter account, which said, “The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences.”
Born in 1940 in New York to Jewish immigrants from Germany, Caan came to acting at Hofstra University, which he attended alongside future director Francis Ford Coppola.
In the ’60s, he began appearing off and on Broadway, followed by numerous TV roles.
Caan’s first film role came with an uncredited part in Billy Wilder’s “Irma la Douce” in 1963. He later landed his first starring role in Howard Hawks’ 1965 auto-racing drama “Red Line 7000”, going on to star with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in the director’s western “El Dorado”.
He earned praise playing a football player with brain damage in Coppola’s 1969 film “The Rain People”.
The actor earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the 1971 TV movie “Brian’s Song”.
Caan’s big break came when Coppola cast him as Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather”, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
He went on to star in many movies in the ’70s, including “The Gambler”, “Freebie and the Bean”, “Funny Lady” with Barbra Streisand, and “Comes a Horseman”.
In 1981 Caan starred in Michael Mann’s debut film “Thief”, delivering one of his most acclaimed performances.
He appeared in many films over the coming decades, including “Misery”, “Honeymoon in Vegas”, “Bottle Rocket”, “Eraser”, “Dogville”, and the Christmas fave “Elf”.
Most recently, Caan had been set to star in Coppola’s long-in-the-works epic “Megalopolis”.
Caan was married five times over his life, and had five children, including actor Scott Caan.
source etcanada