James Caan (born March 26, 1940, Bronx, New York )is
an American actor.
Caan began acting in television in
such series as The Untouchables. His first substantial
film role was as a menacing villain in the 1964 thriller
Lady In A Cage. In 1967, Caan appeared in El Dorado
with John Wayne. Caan first won praise for his role
as a brain-damaged football player in The Rain People
(1969), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In 1971,
Caan won even greater acclaim as dying football player
Brian Piccolo in the television movie Brian's Song.
The following year Coppola cast Caan as mobster Sonny
Corleone in The Godfather, which also helped launch
Al Pacino's career. For his role Caan was nominated
for an Academy Award.
Stardom
From 1973 to 1982, Caan appeared in many Hollywood
films. He played a wide variety of roles and refused
to be typecast as a mobster. His many films include
Cinderella Liberty, Freebie and The Bean, The Gambler,
The Killer Elite, Rollerball, Harry And Walter Go
To New York, A Bridge Too Far, Comes A Horseman and
Chapter Two (a play screenplay conversion by Neil
Simon).
In 1980, Caan directed Hide In Plain
Sight a film about a father searching for his children
lost in the Witness Protection Program. Caan was a
devoted family man all his life and said this film
was a powerful one about family love and values. Despite
critical praise, the film was not a hit.
The following year, Caan appeared
in Thief, directed by Michael Mann, where he played
a professional safe cracker. This film is today regarded
as a film noir classic and Caan has often said it
is the role he is proudest of next to The Godfather.
From 1982 to 1987, Caan did not act
in any films. He was suffering from depression over
his sister's death, a growing problem with cocaine,
and what he described as Hollywood burnout. He made
a stirring return to film in 1987 when his old friend
Francis Ford Coppola cast him as an Army Sergeant
in Gardens Of Stone, a film that dealt with the effect
of the Vietnam War on the homefront.
In 1988 and 1990, Caan starred in
the popular films Alien Nation, Dick Tracy and Misery
(co-star Kathy Bates won a Best Actress Oscar).
Caan made one of the most delightful
films of his career in 1992 with the hit Honeymoon
in Vegas. He co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker
and Nicolas Cage and hilariously spoofed his "Sonny
Corleone" character from The Godfather.
In 1996 he appeared in the indie hit
Bottle Rocket and pursued Arnold Schwarzenegger in
Eraser.
In 1999, Caan joined the ranks of
Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and Powers Boothe
when he portrayed Philip Marlowe in the HBO film Poodle
Springs.
Some of his most recent appearances
have been in The Yards (2000), City of Ghosts (2002)
and Dogville (2003).
Amiable, down to earth and not afraid
to tell it like it is, James Caan is a true gentleman,
a tough guy with a heart of gold and a Hollywood survivor
in every sense of the word. He continues to act on
screen and on television.
Caan has been married four times.
In 1960 he married Dee Jay Mathis; they divorced in
1966 and had one child. His second marriage with Sheila
Ryan (1976) was short lived, and they divorced the
next year. His son Scott was born in 1976. Between
September 1990 and March 1995 Caan was married to
Ingrid Hajek; they also had one child. He married
Linda Stokes in October 1995, but got recently divorced
from her in April 2005. They have two children
source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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