His Twitter account broke the news on Thursday. A statement that read: “It is with great sadness that we inform you of Jimmy’s passing on the evening of July 6th. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy at this difficult time.” Notorious for his hellish party lifestyle, Caan hit Hollywood in the 1970s and early 1980s before abruptly quitting acting and what the actor described as a “pretty scary period” of disappearing from the public eye , before plotting a late comeback. 1980s, gaining recognition for films such as Misery, The Yards and Elf. Caan was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York, the son of a butcher. Not wanting to follow his father into the meat trade, Caan initially aimed for a career as a football player, but became interested in acting after studying at Hofstra University in New York state – where he met future partner Francis Ford Coppola. Caan then joined The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. His first major acting credit was a small role in the 1961 Broadway production of Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole, a World War II play by William Goldman and his brother James. After a series of small films and television appearances, Caan achieved leading man status in 1965 in Howard Hawks’ racing drama Red Line 7000, following that with a role opposite John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in the western El Dorado 1966 by the Hawks. Caan was cast by a then-little-regarded Robert Altman in the 1967 space film Countdown, but his first significant association with Hollywood’s new wave came with Coppola’s 1969 film The Rain People, in which Caan starred a former college hitchhiker. soccer star who is picked on by Shirley Knight’s disgruntled middle-class housewife. Caan, right, as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, with Al Pacino. Photo: Allstar/PARAMOUNT PICTURES After playing the title role in a disappointing 1970 adaptation of John Updike’s famous novel Rabbit, Run, Caan had a breakthrough with Coppola’s Godfather. Caan initially auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone which eventually went to Al Pacino and was favored by studio executives, but after Coppola insisted on Pacino, Caan was given another role, Corleone’s older brother Sonny. Caan received his only Academy Award nomination, Best Supporting Actor, for the film, and his work remains notable for Sonny’s gruesome death scene, for which Caan said he had over 140 “squibs” or exploding blood pellets, to simulate gunshot wounds. . Caan then went on to star in a number of high-profile films in the 1970s that firmly established him in the new generation of American acting talent, including The Gambler (directed by Karel Reisz), the crime comedy Freebie and the Bean together with Alan Arkin. and dystopian sci-fi parable Rollerball. He also appeared in more traditional vehicles such as the Barbra Streisand musical Funny Lady and the World War II epic A Bridge Too Far. Caan also became famous for the roles he turned down, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Apocalypse Now and Kramer Vs Kramer Thief, released in 1981 and directed by Michael Mann, in which Caan played a firecracker who takes on the mob, boded well for his ability to reinvent himself for the new decade, but Caan’s career would quickly derail. Affected by the death of his sister as well as rampant drug use, Caan’s career collapsed after he dropped out of Robert Ludlum’s thriller The Holcroft Covenant (replaced by Michael Caine). Caan would not appear in another Hollywood film until 1987, when Coppola cast him in the Vietnam war drama Gardens of Stone. He followed that up with the popular Alien Nation, but was fully restored with the Stephen King adaptation Misery, directed by Rob Reiner, in which Caan played the bedridden writer under the watchful eye of obsessive nurse/admirer Kathy Bates. Caan, right, with Kathy Bates in Misery. Photo: Allstar/COLUMBIA Caan worked steadily thereafter, often trading in his hard-nosed manner and tough reputation. He appeared in comedies such as Honeymoon in Vegas, Bulletproof and Mickey Blue Eyes, Hollywood thrillers such as Flesh and Bone, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Eraser, and occasional prestige dramas including The Yards, an extended Epic crime drama directed by James Gray and the Brechtian parable Dogville by Lars von Trier. Caan also had a role in the hit cartoon Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the fondly remembered Christmas comedy Elf as Will Ferrell’s businessman father. In 2018 he appeared in Martin Amis’ adaptation of Carol Morley’s Out of Blue as the father of the murderous Jennifer Rockwell. Caan was married four times: between 1961 and 1966 to Dee Jay Mathis, to Sheila Marie Ryan from 1975-76, to Ingrid Hajek from 1990-94, and to Linda Stokes from 1995 to 2017. He had five children, one of which Scott followed him into acting, appearing in Gone in 60 Seconds, Ocean’s Eleven and the Hawaii Five-0 reboot. Tributes have started pouring in from social media, including from Rob Reiner, who directed Caan in Misery. “So sorry to hear the news,” he tweeted. “I loved working with him. And the only Jew I knew who could rope with the best of them. Love in the family.” Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn also tweeted: “Rest In Peace James Caan. There are so many movies of I love’ along with a collection of posters.
