The actor James Caan has died at the age of 82, known for roles such as ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Thief’. Caan’s family communicated through his Twitter his death, referring to the famous tagline that the actor always used in his tweets:
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Jimmy on the night of July 6th. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and sincere condolences and asks that you continue to respect his privacy during this very difficult time. End of tweet.
James Caan’s career
Caan was born in 1940, in the Bronx. Although he initially attended the University of Michigan to play American football, he ended up being attracted to acting and made his television debut with a role in the series ‘The Naked City’ in 1961. His first relevant film role was that of ‘Brian’s Song’ (1971), for which he earned his first Emmy nomination.
Throughout his extensive career, Caan has worked with directors such as Francis Ford Coppola (‘The Godfather’, ‘It rains on my heart’, ‘Gardens of stone’), Michael Mann (‘Thief’), Howard Hawks (‘Danger… Line 7000’, ‘El Dorado’), sam peckinpah (‘The Aristocrats of Crime’) wes anderson (‘Bottle Rocket’), Rob Reiner (‘Misery’), Lars Von Trier (‘Dogville’) or Jon Favreau (‘Elf’).
One of his most iconic roles, that of Sonny Corleone for ‘The Godfather’, it was his second collaboration with Coppola. In this film, his first audition was for Michael Corleone (a role that Al Pacino finally took) although he ended up with Sonny, which earned him his only Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Caan would repeat in this character with his brief appearance in ‘The Godfather. Part II’.
Among the most recent works of James Caan are ‘someone is watching you’ (2016), ‘Grandpa Spy’ (2017), ‘out of blue’ (2018) or ‘The queen bee club’ (2021), pending premiere projects such as ‘Gun Monkeys’ with Morena Baccarin and Pierce Brosnan, ‘Redemption’ or ‘Acre beyond the rye’.
His partner and friend Michael Mann has shared an emotional thread honoring the actor:
What a terrible and tragic loss. Jimmy was not just a great actor with total commitment and a venturesome spirit, but he had a vitality in the core of his being that drove everything from his art and friendship to athletics and very good times. pic.twitter.com/72b06VJGIi
— Michael Mann (@MichaelMann) July 7, 2022
Rest in peace