He had played one of the Corleone sons in the mythical “Godfather”, and a sequestered writer in the distressing “Misery”: American actor James Caan died at 82 following a long career where he played for the most great directors.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you of Jimmy’s passing on the evening of (Wednesday) July 6th,” his family said in a tweet posted on Caan’s account. Its manager, Matt DelPiano, confirmed the news to AFP.
Born in New York, in the Bronx district, in 1940, into a family of Jewish immigrants from Germany, James Caan had started his career with small roles in Hollywood in the 1960s, notably in “Irma La Douce » by Billy Wilder (1963), or « People in the rain », by Francis Ford Coppola (1969).
Three years later, the great American director gave him one of his most famous roles, in the first part of “The Godfather” trilogy, an epic saga regarding the Italian-American mafia that marked the history of cinema. and celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
James Caan plays Sonny Corleone, the eldest son of “don” Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), and his brutal assassination in a hail of bullets at a toll booth became one of the film’s most defining moments. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.
“I still think if I had the change that day I might have gotten a lot richer,” he joked years later, referring to his death at the toll while waiting for his change. “If I had known that they were going to shoot” The Godfather 2 “(in which he had a small role for a flashback), I would have refused to die”, he had quipped, judging that this film had been a “blessing” to him.
“Jimmy was someone who was part of my life longer and more closely than any other cinematic figure I have ever known,” reacted Francis Ford Coppola, welcoming in a statement to AFP his “old friend and “one of the funniest people I’ve ever known.”
As an echo of this role in “The Godfather”, James Caan had been summoned for the first time as a witness in 1985 at a mafia trial in New York, because he had known one of the defendants, a member of the Colombo family. , in his childhood. Then, he testified, still in New York, in 1992 in another trial, where he presented himself as the best friend of a reputable member of the Bonanno mafia family still in the dock.
After “The Godfather”, his career continued with roles in other films that remained classics, such as “Rollerball” (1975), named following this violent sport practiced in a futuristic society, or “The Solitaire” ( 1981) by Michael Mann.
One of his other major roles was offered to him in “Misery” (1990), a grueling film, adapted from the novel by Stephen King. He masterfully embodies the writer Paul Sheldon, kidnapped in the mountains of Colorado by an evil fan played by Kathy Bates.
“His movies were the best of the best,” New York actor and screenwriter Adam Sandler tweeted. “I loved him so much. I always wanted to be like him. I am so happy to have known him. I never stopped laughing when I was with this man,” he added.
Prolific actor, who had starred in several dozen films over six decades, including James Gray’s “The Yards” (2000), Matt Dillon’s “City of Ghosts” (2002), or who had lent his voice in “Tempest of Meatballs giantess” (2009), James Caan had been married four times and had five children.