The actor died earlier this month due to heart problems, according to a death certificate for the star that was obtained by . All rights reserved. Godfather veteran James Caan, 79, is pushed in a wheelchair by son Jacob, 21 | Daily Mail Online The frail star was pushed in wheelchair by his son Jacob on Tuesday following a recent back. Actor who played Sonny Corleone in the groundbreaking 1972 epic engineered a comeback after his career went off the rails in the early 1980s. "With hunger and thirst!". (Chris Polk), "When I lost her, I couldnt handle it," Caan admitted. RAY LIOTTA: A LOOK AT THE 'GOODFELLAS' STAR'S LIFE BEHIND THE CAMERA AND AS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND, James Caan first worked with director Francis Ford Coppola in 'The Rain People' in 1969. Married and divorced four times, Caan had a daughter, Tara, and sons Scott, Alexander, James and Jacob. (CBS via Getty Images), "I had great, great times as a Little League coach," he told Esquire. A tweet from the actor's official account Thursday read, "It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6.". Neither he nor the family would reveal a cause. James acted for decades in numerous blockbuster movies, including Misery, Dick Tracy and most endearingly, Elf.. 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. Caan would not appear in another Hollywood film until 1987, when Coppola cast him in his Vietnam war drama Gardens of Stone. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The award-winning star has been married four times, the first to Dee Jay Mathis with whom he shares a daughter named Tara. For much of the 1980s he made no films, telling people he preferred to coach his son Scotts Little League games. Old friend from Sunnyside, collaborator and one of the funniest people Ive ever known., His Funny Lady co-star Barbra Streisand tweeted a picture of the pair together and wrote: Im so sorry to hear about Jimmy. ", "I will miss him dearly and am proud to have worked with him all these years. An earlier version mistakenly listed Things to Do in Denver When Youre Dead among Caans film credits. He is also survived by multiple sons: Scott, Ryan, Alexander James, James Arthur, and Jacob Nicholas. "If you know any directors, tell 'em I'm ready," he added. (FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives). "You were an inspiration to me as young actor starting out and an even greater one as a man watching you work each day against great physical pain and discomfort. more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster and whose selection ", CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER, The actor was born in the Bronx and later made his on-screen debut in 1963 with "Irma la Douce. The news was released by his Twitter account on Thursday. A year after his Firehouse 51 job ended, Hodge actually worked opposite James Caan in the indie thriller "The Waiting." The same year he made his third, and sadly final appearance in "The Purge . Instead of a passive, relatively one-sided character, he wanted to play someone able to walk around the casino and engage in small talk with its most eccentric customers. He starred as a self-destructive gambling addict in the 1974s now-cut classic The Gambler, the foil to Barbra Streisands Fanny Brice in the Funny Girl sequel Funny Lady and as a superstar athlete-turned-revolutionary in the 1974 sci-fi sports film Rollerball. Snubbing the King: Why Don't Big Stars Want to Perform at Charles' Coronation? Caan was originally cast in Al Pacinos role in the mob classic, but he soon took over as Santino Sonny Corleone, the hair-trigged eldest son of a mob family. According to the death certificate obtained by TMZ, Caan died from a heart attack and coronary artery disease. His father was a meat dealer and butcher. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Al Jean, a producer of The Simpsons, tweeted a joke on Saturday that the three actors would now be "having a sitdown up in heaven.". Following his celebrated turn as a bedridden author tormented by a psychotic Kathy Bates in Misery, Caan returned to Hollywood in the Nineties as a prolific character actor, often playing roles that tapped into the macho bravado he utilized as Sonny decades earlier: He starred as a win-at-all-costs college football coach in The Program, a duplicitous federal agent in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick The Eraser, a low-level crime boss in Wes Andersons directorial debut Bottle Rocket and, in a nod to The Godfather, the patriarch of a crime family in the mob comedy Mickey Blue Eyes. In 2015, James was rushed to the hospital with extreme chest pain, and despite concerns of a heart attack, medics attributed it to infection. Caan went on to pursue acting again after his recovery. And everything you saw in there is something that Paul and I created the day before.. A titan in the film industry, Caan's movie and TV career stretches back over 60 years, with some of his most notable roles being in The Godfather (1972), Misery (1990) and Elf (2003). FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA THOUGHT GODFATHER WAS GOING TO BE A SPECIAL FAILURE, RECEIVES WALK OF FAME STAR, Kathy Bates And James Caan paired up for the chilling Misery flick in 1990 (Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection). Las Vegas provided him with an exceptional opportunity to experience an aspect of film production he was more or less unacquainted with before. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. As Caan told Rolling Stone, Coppola later wanted to cast him as the lead in Apocalypse Now (ultimately played by Martin Sheen), but he and the director couldnt agree on a fee. It might be variable, the corners could be rounded with urban irony, but there was a line and it was non-fungible. He didn't feature in any movies in 1994, and he went on another break between 1996 and 1998. Its hard to believe that he wont be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring. By the time James Caan passed away in 2022, the famous actor was 82 years old. However, the many superb portrayals he gave in scores of films and TV episodes will. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. I taught an acting class for a couple of years here, which was fun and rewarding, but it's not as much fun as doing it. "There was a scene before in the same room that I had with Bobby [Duvall] that was like 10 pages long and Francis [Ford Coppola] cut all of it out!" Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Gianni Russo, the 78-year-old actor who played Carlo Rizzu in The Godfather, recounted a time when James Caan's agent called him as "Any Given Sunday was being produced. The talented star was diagnosed with clinical depression in 1981 after his sister died of Leukemia. Wonderful to know him & call him a pal.. Five, six years later, Im in Hollywood. All rights reserved. Always wanted to be like him. ", He added: "We're really best buddies. I got so into the character, I could see people backing away from me, Caan told Rolling Stone in 1981 of the arduous Thief shoot. The siblings lived close to each other as Barbara even ran his production company. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER, James Caan's son Scott went on to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. Says Adam Driver, Defending Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' Set, Damien Chazelle Compared Diego Calva to Al Pacino During 'Babylon' Casting, 22 Great Erotic Thrillers, from Adrian Lyne to Brian De Palma, 45 Great Films That Failed at the Box Office. I shall cherish the memory of you always. Caan received his only Oscar nomination, for best supporting actor, for the film, and his work remains notable for Sonnys gruesome death scene, for which Caan said he was fitted with over 140 squibs, or explosive blood pellets, to simulate gunshot wounds. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Francis Ford Coppola, James Caan, The Godfather. Never ever stopped laughing when I was around that man. Caan received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in the drama The Gambler (1974), and the musical Funny Lady (1975). For more on James Caan, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day. At the time, the actor was struggling financially due tohis drug addiction battle. I was like a maniac. I'm proud that he's grown up so well.". "Not only was he one of the best actors our business has ever seen, he was funny, loyal, caring and beloved. Photo: Matt Carr/Getty. to join the cast of NBC's Las Vegas this fall, playing "a charismatic . Caan didnt take a starring role in a TV series until 2003 but his first effort, Las Vegas, was an immediate hit. Caan had begun to struggle with drug abuse and was devastated by the 1981 death of his sister, who until then had been a guiding force in his career. He also lent his voice to animated shows likeFamily Guyand American Dad. In 2018 he appeared in Carol Morleys Martin Amis adaptation Out of Blue, as the father of murder victim Jennifer Rockwell. After a string of minor film and TV appearances, Caan achieved leading man status in 1965 in Howard Hawks stock car racing drama Red Line 7000, following it up with a role alongside John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in Hawks 1966 western El Dorado. All rights reserved. FILE - James Caan attends the 2016 Summer TCA "Hallmark Event" on July 27, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Caan, whose roles included "The Godfather," "Brians Song" and "Misery," died Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at age 82. Although his character was dispatched early in the saga, Caans volcanic portrayal of Sonny resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. ", He also said he was itching "to do some really good character stuff" before he died, explaining, "Henry Fonda always said he wanted to do a good picture before he passed away. In 1990, he starred in both "Dick Tracy" and "Misery." They wouldn't let me do much else. The legendary actor starred in 'Misery' and 'Elf," in addition to hundreds of other roles. Besides being a talented instinctive actor, he was the only Jew I knew who could rope a calf with the best of them. Among Caan's numerous accolades are four Golden Globe nominations, along with nods from both the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards. The instance was one of dozens of roles that Caan reportedly turned down as he eschewed blockbusters for more challenging work. "The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time," the tweet added. James Caan died on July 6 at age 82, which these days seems too young (I'm not just saying that because I'm about to turn 63, or . Russo claimed in 2017 that a physical altercation between their characters became elevated after Caan allegedly took out real-life frustrations. Always wanted to be like him. He had five children, one of whom, Scott, followed him into acting, appearing in Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven and the Hawaii Five-0 reboot. The legendary actor is survived by one daughter, Tara Caan. Copyright 2023 Distractify. A stage veteran before heading to Hollywood, the Bronx-born actor was next cast in 1969s The Rain People directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who he would soon collaborate with again and the lead role in the 1970 adaptation of John Updikes Run, Rabbit. Caan played . 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. Who Are James Caan's Children? All Rights Reserved. The 45-year-old told the news outlet: "To say our relationship wasn't dysfunctional would be a lie. ", James Caan's son on 'dysfunctional' relationship with dad. Other later films included Flesh and Bone, Bottle Rocket and Mickey Blue Eyes. He introduced himself to a new generation playing Walter, the workaholic, stone-faced father of Buddys Will Ferrell in Elf., Adam Sandler, who acted with him in Bulletproof and Thats My Boy tweeted that he, Loved him very much. What a loss.. The actor tied the knot for the final time in 1995 to a woman named Linda Stokes, and the couple welcomed two sons, James Arthur Caan and Jacob Nicholas Caan. Pierce Brosnanis a film producer and actor from Ireland. Caan originally auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone that eventually went to Al Pacino, and was favoured by the studio executives, but after Coppola insisted on Pacino, Caan was given another plum role, Corleones older brother Sonny. Thu 7 Jul 2022 13.12 EDT. ", He added: "He made mistakes that affected him and me but he's always been there for me no matter what. Las Vegas Has Basically Shut Down Thanks to the Coronavirus, FaZe Banks and His Crew Caused $30,000 in Damages to a Las Vegas Hotel Room, Man's Text Messages With Friend Who Was In Las Vegas Massacre Emerge Online. A masculine and enigmatic actor whose life and movie career have had James Caan's son Scott went on to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. His son Scott Caan followed in his fathers footsteps and became an actor. Robert Duvall, James Caan, The Godfather. Market data provided by Factset. 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