James Caan

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For the British Asian business entrepreneur, see James Caan (entrepreneur).
James Caan

Caan at Cannes, 2000
Born James Edmund Caan
March 26, 1940 (1940-03-26) (age 68)
The Bronx, New York City,
New York, United States
Other name(s) Jimmy Caan

James Edmund "Jimmy" Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American Academy Award-, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American film, stage and television actor. He is best-known for his Academy Award nominated role of Santino 'Sonny' Corleone in 1972's The Godfather, Paul Sheldon in Stephen King's Misery and for his role as Ed Deline on Las Vegas.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Caan was born in The Bronx, the son of Sophie and Arthur Caan, Jewish emigrants from Germany.[1] His father was a meat dealer.[2] Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens.[1] He was educated at the public P.S. 150 Christopher Street School in Brooklyn, New York City, at the private Rhodes Preparatory School, also in New York City, and then attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, studying economics. Caan played college football at the University, and later transferred to Hofstra University in Hempstead, but he did not graduate. However, while studying at Hofstra University, he became intrigued by acting and was interviewed, accepted and graduated from New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where one of his instructors was teaching legend Sanford Meisner.

[edit] Career

Caan began acting in television on such series as The Untouchables, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat!, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, The Wide Country, Alcoa Premiere, Route 66, and Naked City.

His first substantial film role was as a villainous punk in the 1964 thriller Lady in a Cage, which starred Olivia de Havilland. In 1967, Caan appeared in El Dorado with John Wayne. He 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 more acclaim as dying football player Brian Piccolo in the television movie Brian's Song, which was later released in theaters. The following year, Coppola cast Caan as mobster Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, which also helped launch Al Pacino's career. Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film.

It was around this time that Caan had his infamous great friendship with the reputed Underboss of the Colombo crime family, the fierce Carmine "Junior" Persico. Caan would eventually be photographed by US law enforcement in surveillance pictures along with Persico, however, due to the fact that the The Godfather hadn't come out yet, the authorities mistook him for another rising mobster in the Colombo crime family, which Persico currently is the Boss of today.

From 1973-82, Caan appeared in many Hollywood films. He played a wide variety of roles. His films include Cinderella Liberty, Rollerball, a musical turn in Funny Lady, 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. Despite critical praise, the film was not a hit with the public. 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 neo-noir classic and Caan has often said it is the role of which he is proudest next to The Godfather.

From 1982-87, Caan suffered from depression over his sister's death, a growing problem with cocaine, and what he described as "Hollywood burnout," and did not act in any films. He returned to film in 1987 when Coppola cast him as an army platoon sergeant for the "Old Guard" 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 films Alien Nation, Dick Tracy and Misery (co-star Kathy Bates won a Best Actress Oscar). In 1992, Caan appeared in Honeymoon in Vegas. In 1996, he appeared in Bottle Rocket and pursued Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser. In 1999, Caan 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), Dogville (2003), and Elf (2003). In 2003, he auditioned and won the role of the head security officer 'Big Ed' Deline in Las Vegas. On February 27, 2007, Caan announced that he would not return to Las Vegas for the show's fifth season in order to return to film work. That same year, he was replaced by Tom Selleck.

He will appear in the 2008 film Get Smart.

[edit] Personal life

Caan has been married four times. In 1960, he married Dee Jay Mathis/Mattis; and divorced in 1966. They had one child Tara A. Caan (born November 5, 1964). His second marriage to Sheila Ryan, former girlfriend of music legend Elvis Presley, in 1976 was short-lived: they divorced the following year. His son, Scott Caan, was born August 23, 1976.

From September 1990 to March 1995, Caan was married to Ingrid Hajek; they also had one child, Alexander James Caan (born April 10, 1991). He married Linda Stokes in October 1996, and they have two children, James Arthur Caan (born November 6, 1995) and Jacob Nicholas Caan (born September 24, 1998).

Caan is a practicing martial artist. He has trained with karate master Tak Kubota for nearly thirty years, earning various ranks.[3] He trained the Culver City Police department in martial arts use.[1]

Caan is an avid golfer with an 8 handicap. He played in the LPGA pro-am event in Aventura FL on April 23-25, 2008.

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  1. ^ a b c Model, Betsy. The Ultimate Caan. Cigar Aficionado. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  2. ^ James Caan Biography (1940?-)
  3. ^ "The History of Karate in America" The American Black Belt Society, Retrieved November 1, 2006

[edit] External links