John Cazale

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John Cazale
Born John Holland Cazale
August 12, 1935(1935-08-12)
Boston, Massachusetts
Died March 12, 1978 (aged 42)
New York City, New York
Spouse(s) Engaged to Meryl Streep

John Holland Cazale (August 12, 1935 – March 12, 1978) was a distinguished Golden Globe Award nominated American film and stage actor whose brief career spanned several acclaimed films of the 1970s.

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[edit] Biography

An Italian American, Cazale was born in Boston; all four of his grandparents were from Sicily and emigrated to New York City in the 1890s. He studied drama at Oberlin College and Boston University, and was very good friends with Al Pacino as a teenager. He moved to New York and worked as a messenger for an oil company, while working as an off-Broadway actor and auditioning for film and television projects. He is remembered not only for his roles, but also for helping discover his childhood friend Pacino, fellow theater actor Robert De Niro, and his fiancée at the time of his death, Meryl Streep, whom he met when they were both in the Public Theater's 1976 production of Measure for Measure.

Cazale was cited as a "Distinguished Performance" by the Off-Broadway Obie Awards for the 1967-68 season for his performance in Israel Horovitz's play The Indian Wants the Bronx. Cazale made his big screen debut, alongside old friend Al Pacino, as Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. The film broke box office records and made Pacino, Cazale and several of their previously unknown co-stars famous. Cazale again starred alongside Pacino in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination), and reprised his role as Fredo in The Godfather Part II. During this time, he also starred with Gene Hackman in Coppola's The Conversation. His final role was in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter.

[edit] Death

Despite being diagnosed with bone cancer, Cazale continued to work, his final appearance being with his fiancée Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter. When distributor Universal Studios learned of Cazale's illness, they were reluctant to insure him, but Streep and director Michael Cimino advocated for him. Cazale died on March 12, 1978, shortly after completing his work on the film. John Cazale is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden, Mass.

[edit] Legacy

In spite of the desperate, violent characters he played in a handful of films, he was by all accounts a kind and gentle person off screen - described by those close to him to be "often shy" and "very emotionally sensitive", and a close friend of many actors he worked with. Good friend and frequent co-star Pacino collaborated with him on three films and various theater productions, and referred to him as "my acting partner."

Twelve years after his death he appeared in a sixth feature film, The Godfather Part III (1990), in archive footage. The Godfather Part III was also nominated for Best Picture. This marks the unique achievement of John Cazale having every feature film in which he appeared be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Most recently, Cazale's image was used for The Godfather video game, as his character, Fredo. He has a theater named after him, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre (currently inhabited by the company Second Stage Theatre), located at 2162 Broadway at 76th Street, above the Promenade Theatre on the fourth floor.

[edit] Filmography

John Cazale appeared in five films while alive, plus a sixth using archival footage after his death. All six films were nominated for the Academy Award for best picture - a 100% success rate that is unlikely ever to be replicated.

Date Film Role
March 15, 1972 The Godfather Fredo Corleone
April 7, 1974 The Conversation Stan
December 12, 1974 The Godfather: Part II Fredo Corleone
September 21, 1975 Dog Day Afternoon Salvatore "Sal" Naturile
December 8, 1978 The Deer Hunter Stanley "Stosh"
December 25, 1990 The Godfather: Part III Fredo Corleone (archive footage)

[edit] External links