The film was an immediate critical and commercial smash, the highest grossing film of 1972, and introduced a whole new pop culture lexicon. However, the many superb portrayals he gave in scores of films and TV episodes will. The Chicago in Thief is the Chicago of the Green Mill Lounge and Wise Fools Pub, of the alleys behind Wabash Avenue in the Loop, of the intersection of Ashland and Webster, of diners and finished basements and used car lots but its also almost surreal in its beauty, from the consistent use of neon to the sparkling, rain-soaked streets. After his death, many admirers took to social media to post excerpts of his infamous 1976 Playboy interview, during which he spent the whole time goofing on his interviewer and the entire concept of a celebrity profile. Market data provided by Factset. film world was stunned by the death of actor and filmmaker James Caan, his immortal turn as Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather. In the early 1990s, Caan appeared in a number of hit movies, including 1991's big budget spectacle, For the Boys. Instead, Joel Grey took home the award for "Cabaret." The news of his death was reported around the world the next day. Check out what clicked this week in entertainment. We may never be able to fully separate the truth from the legends, but we do know that at some point during the production of the film Caan became good friends with Colombo crime family lieutenant Andrew Russo. After undergoing serious back surgery in 2020, he was hospitalized for months and has only recently begun to walk again. Her 2019 short story collection "Staten Island Stories" was a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards. James Caan: the hard-working star who mixed the rough with the smooth, James Caan: some of The Godfather star's most memorable scenes video, TheGodfather star James Caan dies aged 82, James Caan: The studio thought The Godfather was a piece of garbage. Cinderella Liberty is a 1973 American drama film adapted by Daryl Ponicsan from his 1973 novel of the same title. As screenwriter William Goldman wrote in his 2000 memoir, "That pent-up energy you saw on screen was very real. As Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Duvall, and James Caan were working on "The Rain People," author Mario Puzo released his bestselling crime novel "The Godfather," a multi-generational look at America through the changing fortunes of a mafia leader and his children. He wasn't afraid to play against his tough guy image, either, in sensitive supporting turns opposite Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda in "Funny Lady" and "Comes a Horseman," respectively. Even when playing a bedridden romance novelist in "Misery," Rob Reiner's 1990 Stephen King adaptation, Caan's physicality plays an important part. The next year Caan told Rolling Stone: It is impossible to tell you the whole story without getting into a whole lot of smut, without degrading my ex-wife If I were to say to you that someone threw a phone at me I put up my hands an accidental slap a backhand. In this interview his sister Barbara is quoted as saying, Yes, he shoved her. My thoughts and prayers are with his entire family during this difficult time. His manager Matt DelPiano said he died Wednesday. Thief was a critical smash, with the Sun-Times Roger Ebert giving it three and a half stars and writing, It is a good thing when a movie creates characters we feel strongly about, and Thief is populated with them. Frank is a hard-talking tough guy, pressed into one last job by a dangerous mobster (Robert Prosky), but Mann and Caan give him vast reserves of pain and trauma just under the surface. In the film, based on Stephen Kings novel, Caan is an author taken captive by an obsessed fan who breaks his ankles to keep him from leaving. 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His dad was a butcher and his mother was a homemaker. When Ronnie Lorenzo, an LA mobster, was arrested for drug trafficking, kidnap and extortion, Caan offered his home as collateral toward the $2m bail and appeared as a character witness for his best friend. These allegations were also largely swept under the rug, both by media and law enforcement. Los Angeles benefit at Paramount Studios on April 22, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Great! "I like watching it, of course, watching it when it comes out, and that will dictate if I ever watch it again," he said. The film, which points to the links between the mafia and American capitalism, portrays men such as Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), the godfather of the title, as businessmen. ", At age 16 he moved halfway across the country to attend Michigan State University, where he studied Economics and played football. In March 1994, Caan was visiting his brother in Los Angeles when he got into a heated argument with another man, reportedly over an act of vandalism. The following year he played a tongue-in-cheek version of Sonny Corleone in the comedy Honeymoon in Vegas, tricking Nicolas Cage into betting his girlfriend, Sarah Jessica Parker, in a high-stakes poker game so he can spirit her away and try to persuade her to marry him. USA TODAY'sBarbara VanDenburghscopes out the shelves for this weeks hottest new book releases. I have more fun when I'm working, and I have a lot of laughs. James Caan was a bona fide A-lister in the 1970s, but in the years following "The Godfather" he took a more eclectic route with his stardom, acting in films like Sam Peckinpah's ninjas-vs-spies mash-up "The Killer Elite" and the turn-of-the-century caper "Harry and Walter Go to New York." Less cut and dried, however, was an altercation just a few months later when Caan allegedly pulled a gun on a man during an argument. The film tells the story of a sailor who falls in love with a prostitute and becomes a surrogate father for her 10-year-old mixed race son. Caan was also the first significant film star to admit to being friends with the Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, although he said the relationship was platonic. And yes, there was a bruise, but nothing else. Despite the admitted slap, shove, and bruise, Caan claimed the picture was a total fabrication., In 1993, Caan was one of the first stars picked up in a major high-end prostitution bust, according to The Guardian. His official Twitter account confirmed the American actor's passing in a brief message posted to the social media platform on July 7. When Caan was going through a difficult divorce from wife Sheila Ryan in 1976, Hefner offered him a place to stay until he got back on his feet. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Life on a third straight one-year contract with the mega-talented Astros isnt bad at all. I spend most of my time upstairs in my bedroom, wearing out one spot on the bed where I sit when Im making phone calls. When he had not appeared in a film for four years, people in Hollywood were beginning to ask, What ever happened to ?. Before he can escape he is cut down by a seemingly endless fusillade of machine-gun fire. The legendary actor, who passed away on Wednesday, needed the help of a walker in some of his final photos. That should have been the final straw, but it is only just the beginning of trans activism. As at home as Caan felt at the Playboy Mansion, he seems to have felt just as welcome in the magazine's pages. Im very pleased and very honored by the fact the Actors Studio, the kids there have picked that scene to do quite a lot, said Caan. The "Godfather" star continued to act in recent years, with IMDb listing an upcoming project of his, titled "Fast Charlie," as being in post-production ahead of a 2023 release. . Its hard to believe that he wont be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring. Caan, for all his iconic roles, was also emblematic of the violent male misogynist that has plagued film since its inception. As in The Gambler, in which he brings to life screenwriter James Toback's fantasy/projection of a lit professor who can show up to class after an overstimulated night at the craps tables and. "I got a prescription to live at the Playboy Mansion," he joked to Esquire magazine in 2003. His work should be remembered, and his flaws do not mean his movies will hold any less relevance to fans. Per the New York Post, their relationship was so strong that when Russo was arrested in 2011, the "Rollerball" actor submitted a letter to the court vouching for him. James stayed on the show for four years, only leaving before the shooting of Season 5. Legal Statement. As they traveled to the Vibrato Grill Jazz in Los Angeles for supper, the 79-year-old Godfather actor was spotted enjoying time with his youngest child, who is 21. Make sure to sign up for our books newsletter to have the latest books news delivered straight to your inbox. Selena Gomez Documentary Highlights Mental Health Struggles. Don't miss out on the latest news. James Caan and Gianni Russo in the fight scene from The Godfather, in which Russo claims he broke two ribs. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. The football star played for Michigan State University before transferring to Hofstra University where he discovered his talent as an actor and was accepted into the New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre (via Walk of Fame). "The Godfather" would sit at the top of nearly any actor's resume, and rightly so, but James Caan had other, less heralded favorites. Caan made his own indelible contribution to the English language by accident when he improvised the onomatopoeia "bada bing!" Fans of a certain age will no doubt know James Caan best from "The Godfather," but their children and grandchildren might have a different experience of the actor not as a violent mid-century mobster but as a grumpy dad who needs to learn the true meaning of Christmas. And I get respect, too sometimes.". Interspersed between the elaborate heist sequences and the shootouts, Thief makes time for dialogue-rich interludes, most famously the nearly 10-minute scene where Frank and Tuesday Welds Jessie lay their cards on the table and speak with raw truth about their pasts and the prospects for a future together. Caan was already a star on television, breaking through in the 1971 TV movie Brians Song, an emotional drama about Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, who had died of cancer the year before at age 26. Those ones I would watch more than once. How rare. It was not a box office smash, grossing $31 million in todays dollars, but has become revered as a classic of the genre and a major influence on films from Manns own Heat (1995) to Nicolas Winding Refns 2011 classic Drive., Click here for behind-the-scene gems from the making of Thief and Caans great story about the aftermath of Brians Song.. The top entertainment stories, features and must-read reviews sent to you weekly. In a 2013 interview with the AV Club, Caan took credit for discovering Mann, recounting how the fledgling filmmaker waited to talk to him on the set of the Neil Simon adaptation "Chapter Two." Adam Sandler tweeted, for example, Always wanted to be like him Never ever stopped laughing when I was around that man. Things were looking up for . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. A few, but not all, of these allegations have received some attention in last weeks articles venerating Caan and his reputation as a mans man, tough guy, and bad boy. Throughout his career, Caan faced a parade of allegations of other instances of assault. By the mid-1990s, James Caan was back on top, thanks to a string of hits and notable films like "Misery" and the 1992 romantic comedy "Honeymoon in Vegas." Yep. Caan went along with it, checked out with Mann wrote, and recognized something good was brewing. ", Caan died from a heart attack in early July. I mean, I woke up and this whole thing had happened while I was asleep. As a storyteller, Mann's aesthetic of crooks and cops driving rain-soaked urban streets, pulsing to the beat of dreamy synths (courtesy of Tangerine Dream here) is already fully formed and on display. Caan was 82 years old when he died. Caan's behavior was erratic he was. James Caan. As he said toWENN, hedidn't want to be upstaged by a child actor in a sentimental weepie like "Kramer," while the thought of spending months in the jungle was enough to deter him from reuniting with Coppola on "Apocalypse Now.". Much of that time was spent coaching Little League baseball, an experience Caan cherished. HOLLYWOOD (AP) - The sister of actor James Caan and president-chief operating officer of the actor's film and television production company has died at the age of 38, a spokesman said. I can get that. Scott Caan's injury was written into the script by the show's creators and blamed on his partner, O'Loughlin. He made his 40 million dollar fortune with Countdown, The Killer Elite, Bottle Rocket. In addition to famous lines like "Leave the gun, take the cannoli," the film (and book) gave new meaning to the word"godfather," a title that did not have sinister connotations before the novel. Offscreen, Caan's personal life was a bit of a rollercoaster. He was sued by a woman who claimed he had tried to strangle her. There were several flops, undeservedly in the case of Michael Manns Thief (1981), released as Violent Streets in the UK, and deservedly with the whimsical Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) Caans attempts at comedy were slow to be appreciated. Why did he leave the show? The latter title chimed with Caan, who was once dubbed the Jewish cowboy because of his earlier participation in rodeos and his ownership of a stable of horses.