James Caan, Oscar nominee for 'The Godfather,' dies at 82
Published:Thursday | July 7, 2022 | 1:54 PM
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 football player in the classic weeper Brian’s Song and the casino boss in Las Vegas, has died. He was 82.
His manager Matt DelPiano said he died on Wednesday. No cause was given and Caan's family, who requests privacy, said that no further details would be released at this time.
A football player at Michigan State University and a practical joker on production sets, Caan was a grinning, handsome performer with an athlete’s swagger and muscular build. He managed a long career despite drug problems, outbursts of temper and minor brushes with the law.
Born March 26, 1939, in New York City, Caan was the son of a kosher meat wholesaler. He was a star athlete and class president at Rhodes High School and, after attending Michigan State and Hofstra University, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater under Sanford Meisner.
Following a brief stage career, he moved to Hollywood. He made his movie debut in a brief uncredited role in 1963 in Billy Wilder’s Irma La Douce, then landed a role as young thug who terrorises Olivia de Havilland in Lady in a Cage. He also appeared opposite John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in the 1966 Western El Dorado and Harrison Ford in the 1968 Western Journey to Shiloh.
Married and divorced four times, Caan had a daughter, Tara, and sons Scott, Alexander, James and Jacob.