The news was announced by his family via the New York-born star’s official Twitter page. “It is with great sadness that we inform you of Jimmy’s passing on the evening of July 6th,” the tweet read. “The family appreciates the outpouring of love and sincere condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy at this difficult time. End of tweet.” Caan’s credits include The Godfather (1972), the Stephen King adaptation Misery (1990) and the Christmas film Elf (2003). His Hollywood career began in the 1960s, following roles in films directed by Howard Hawks (El Dorado, 1966), Robert Altman (Countdown, 1967) and Francis Ford Coppola (The Rain People, 1969). In the 1970s, Coppola cast him as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, which led to an Academy Award nomination. Caan returned for a brief appearance in the 1974 sequel. While the actor was originally cast as Michael Corleone, he had his heart set on Sonny and successfully suggested Al Pacino to play the role of Michael. He eventually faced his co-star alongside another Godfather actor, Robert Duvall, in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 1973 Academy Awards. All three lost to Joel Grey, who won for Cabaret. Caan told The Independent in January 2021: “I really wish I had an Oscar. But listen, here’s what you need to know. Number one: anyone who gets cancer [in a movie] automatically wins the Oscar that year. Number Two: I sound like I’m bitter, and I am!” James Caan as Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather” (Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock) In 1971, Caan appeared in the TV movie Brian’s Song, a biopic in which he played dying football player Brian Piccolo. He earned an Emmy nomination for the role, which he turned down four times before accepting. Despite having many famous roles, Kaan turned down many films that became huge hits. These included The French Connection (1971), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Kramer vs Kramer (1979), which he called “middle-class bourgeois baloney”. He also turned down the chance to work with Coppola on Apocalypse Now (1979) as he “didn’t want to spend 16 weeks in the Philippine jungle”. Caan was set to team up with Coppola again on the director’s upcoming passion project Megalopolis, which is set to shoot later this year. James Caan has died aged 82 (Getty Images) The actor’s previous credits include The Gambler (1974), Rollerball (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and the early Michael Mann film Thief (1982). In 1996, he starred in the Wes Anderson film Bottle Rocket, while also appearing in films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (Rubber) and Adam Sandler (Bulletproof). Caan was married four times and had five children, including actor Scott Caan.
