James Caan, who starred as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, has passed away at the age of 82. Some of his other classic movies include The Gambler, Rollerball, Michael Mann‘s Thief, and Stephen King‘s Misery.
Caan was a regular presence on social media, frequently sharing photographs of himself on the sets of his movies and always writing; “End of tweet.” His representatives made the announcement via his Twitter account; “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. End of tweet.”
James Caan had already worked with Francis Ford Coppola on The Rain People (1969) and was seriously considered for the role of Michael Corleone, before Coppola eventually won his running battle with Paramount about casting the unknown Al Pacino. Caan played the famous author Paul Sheldon who is ‘hobbled’ by Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Misery (1990).
Caan poked fun at the gangster characters that he was typcast as in comedies such as Honeymoon in Vegas alongside Nicolas Cage, and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) with Hugh Grant. He appeared in Wes Anderson’s first movie Bottle Rocket (1996). He also appeared in Lars Von Trier’s controversial Dogville and Elf with Will Ferrell – both in 2003.
He was working right up until the end, with Queen Bees released in 2021. He has two unreleased movies – Fast Charlie and Redemption. Caan is the second actor best known for playing a gangster to pass away this year, with Ray Liotta being taken at the age of just 67 in May 2022. Caan tweeted; “Not Ray” with a broken heart symbol when Liotta passed.
Caan is portrayed by Damian Conrad-Davis in the Paramount Plus TV series The Offer – about the making of The Godfather.
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