James Caan
Birthday:
Birthplace:
The Bronx, New York, USA
Like so many other prominent actors of the 1970s, the versatile James Caan rose to success on the strength of his riveting performance in The Godfather. Born March 26, 1939, in the Bronx, NY, Caan decided to pursue a career in acting while attending college and in 1960 was accepted by Sanford Meisner into the Neighborhood Playhouse. After making his debut off-Broadway in I Roam, he landed in the Broadway production of Mandingo but exited after just four performances because of artistic difficulties with star Franchot Tone. Caan then landed in television, where he became a busy character actor; he made his film debut in an unbilled performance in 1963's Irma La Douce, followed by a meatier role in Lady in a Cage the following year. The 1965 Howard Hawks auto-racing drama Red Line 7000 was his first starring role, followed two years later by the Hawks Western El Dorado, which cast him opposite John Wayne and Robert Mitchum; in 1968, Caan starred in Robert Altman's Countdown, and in 1969, he appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People. Caan shot to fame thanks to a poignant performance in the 1970 television movie Brian's Song, in which he played the ill-fated Chicago Bears star Brian Piccolo; his turn as the similarly ill-fated Sonny Corleone in Coppola's 1972 masterpiece The Godfather solidified his stardom and earned him an Academy Award nomination, but his subsequent films, including 1973's Slither and the next year's Freebie and the Bean, failed to live up to expectations. After earning a Golden Globe bid for his work in 1974's The Gambler, Caan briefly appeared in 1974's The Godfather Pt. 2 before co-starring with Barbra Streisand in the hit Funny Lady, followed by Norman Jewison's futuristic parable Rollerball. When both 1975's Sam Peckinpah thriller The Killer Elite and 1976's Harry and Walter Go to New York met with failure, Caan's career took a downward turn, and apart from cameo appearances in both Mel Brooks' Silent Movie and the star-studded A Bridge Too Far, he was largely absent from screens for a time. He also made any number of ill-considered decisions; he and Coppola were unable to come to terms for Apocalypse Now, and he also rejected roles in hits including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Superman, and Kramer vs. Kramer.By the end of the decade, Caan's career had hit the skids, as projects including the 1978 Western Comes a Horseman (co-starring Jane Fonda) and the following year's Neil Simon drama Chapter Two all failed to live up to expectations. His directorial debut in 1980's Hide in Plain Sight fared no better, although Michael Mann's thriller Thief garnered a cult following; when 1982's Kiss Me Goodbye bombed, Caan disappeared from sight for the next five years. Finally, in 1987, Caan resurfaced, starring in Coppola's war drama Gardens of Stone; the next year's science fiction picture Alien Nation was a hit, as was his next major project, Rob Reiner's 1990 feature Misery. After 1991's For the Boys failed to connect with audiences, Caan spent much of the decade in prominent supporting roles which showcased his smart, edgy persona; among the more high-profile were 1992's Honeymoon in Vegas, 1996's Eraser, and the wonderful indie hit Bottle Rocket.Caan would prove over the coming decades that he liked to work, appearing in projects that ran the gamut from big to small. He'd appear in comedies like Mickey Blue Eyes and Elf, thrillers like City of Ghosts and In the Shadows, indie films like Lars Von Trier's Dogville and Tony Kaye's Detachment. Caan would also delight audiences on the small screen with a starring role on the TV series Las Vegas from 2003 to 2007,
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | Con Man |
|
— | 2018 |
No Score Yet | Undercover Grandpa |
|
— | 2017 |
33% | The Good Neighbor |
|
— | 2016 |
No Score Yet | Acre Beyond the Rye |
|
— | 2016 |
No Score Yet | The Red Maple Leaf |
|
— | 2016 |
No Score Yet | The Godfather Epic |
|
— | 2016 |
47% | Preggoland |
|
— | 2015 |
No Score Yet | The Throwaways |
|
— | 2015 |
No Score Yet | The Wrong Boyfriend (Wuthering High) |
|
— | 2015 |
No Score Yet | Sicilian Vampire |
|
— | 2015 |
70% | Altman |
|
— | 2014 |
100% | The Tale of the Princess Kaguya |
|
$0.5M | 2014 |
52% | Blood Ties |
|
$29.3k | 2014 |
5% | The Outsider |
|
— | 2014 |
71% | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 |
|
$119.8M | 2013 |
30% | Small Apartments |
|
— | 2013 |
No Score Yet | A Fighting Man |
|
— | 2013 |
84% | Seduced And Abandoned |
|
— | 2013 |
20% | That's My Boy |
|
$37M | 2012 |
0% | For the Love of Money |
|
— | 2012 |
57% | Detachment |
|
$49.4k | 2012 |
42% | Henry's Crime |
|
$0.1M | 2011 |
40% | Middle Men |
|
$0.8M | 2010 |
60% | Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel |
|
$22.4k | 2010 |
43% | Mercy |
|
— | 2010 |
37% | New York, I Love You |
|
$1.6M | 2009 |
86% | Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs |
|
$124.9M | 2009 |
51% | Get Smart |
|
$130.3M | 2008 |
80% | Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project |
|
— | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Wisegal |
|
— | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Brando |
|
— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie |
|
— | 2004 |
No Score Yet | Santa's Slay |
|
— | 2004 |
85% | Elf |
|
$173.4M | 2003 |
40% | This Thing of Ours |
|
— | 2003 |
No Score Yet | Jericho Mansions |
|
— | 2003 |
70% | Dogville |
|
$1.5M | 2003 |
47% | City of Ghosts |
|
$0.3M | 2003 |
No Score Yet | Blood Crime |
|
— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | Lathe of Heaven |
|
— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | In the Shadows |
|
— | 2002 |
41% | Night at the Golden Eagle |
|
— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | Lathe of Heaven |
|
— | 2002 |
33% | A Glimpse of Hell |
|
— | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Luckytown |
|
— | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Warden of Red Rock |
|
— | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Viva Las Nowhere (Dead Simple) |
|
— | 2001 |
64% | The Yards |
|
— | 2000 |
46% | The Way of the Gun |
|
$5.3M | 2000 |
45% | Mickey Blue Eyes |
|
— | 1999 |
75% | This Is My Father |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Poodle Springs |
|
— | 1998 |
No Score Yet | Howard Hawks: American Artist |
|
— | 1997 |
8% | Bulletproof |
|
— | 1996 |
85% | Bottle Rocket |
|
— | 1996 |
No Score Yet | North Star |
|
— | 1996 |
33% | Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead |
|
— | 1995 |
No Score Yet | A Boy Called Hate |
|
— | 1995 |
68% | Flesh And Bone |
|
— | 1993 |
43% | The Program |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Harley-Davidson: The American Motorcycle |
|
— | 1993 |
63% | Honeymoon in Vegas |
|
— | 1992 |
43% | For the Boys |
|
— | 1991 |
45% | The Dark Backward |
|
— | 1991 |
90% | Misery |
|
— | 1990 |
63% | Dick Tracy |
|
— | 1990 |
52% | Alien Nation |
|
— | 1988 |
47% | Gardens of Stone |
|
— | 1987 |
67% | Les uns et les autres |
|
— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | Kiss Me Goodbye |
|
— | 1982 |
94% | Thief |
|
— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | Hide In Plain Sight |
|
— | 1980 |
50% | Chapter Two |
|
— | 1979 |
70% | Comes a Horseman |
|
— | 1978 |
73% | The Driver |
|
— | 1978 |
64% | A Bridge Too Far |
|
— | 1977 |
67% | Another Man, Another Chance |
|
— | 1977 |
56% | Harry and Walter Go to New York |
|
— | 1976 |
80% | Silent Movie |
|
— | 1976 |
50% | The Killer Elite |
|
— | 1975 |
66% | Rollerball |
|
— | 1975 |
33% | Funny Lady |
|
— | 1975 |
No Score Yet | Gone with the West (Little Moon and Jud McGraw) (Bronco Busters ) |
|
— | 1975 |
25% | Freebie and the Bean |
|
$8.8k | 1974 |
96% | The Godfather, Part II |
|
— | 1974 |
78% | The Gambler |
|
— | 1974 |
63% | Cinderella Liberty |
|
— | 1973 |
86% | Slither |
|
— | 1973 |
97% | The Godfather |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration |
|
— | 1972 |
0% | T.R. Baskin |
|
— | 1971 |
92% | Brian's Song |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | Rabbit, Run |
|
— | 1970 |
83% | The Rain People |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | Submarine X-1 |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | Journey to Shiloh |
|
— | 1968 |
67% | Countdown |
|
— | 1968 |
100% | El Dorado |
|
— | 1967 |
57% | Games |
|
— | 1967 |
60% | Red Line 7000 |
|
— | 1965 |
60% | The Glory Guys |
|
— | 1965 |
20% | Lady in a Cage |
|
— | 1964 |
76% | Irma La Douce |
|
— | 1963 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
48% |
Back in the Game
2013
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Jimmy Kimmel Live
2003
|
|
|
65% |
Magic City
2012-2013
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The View
1997
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Hawaii Five-0
2010-2020
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Dragons' Den
2005-2019
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Family Guy
1999
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Las Vegas
2003-2008
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Crossing Jordan
2001-2007
|
|
|
85% |
The Simpsons
1989
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962-1965
|
|
|
Quotes from James Caan's Characters
Waitress: | Excuse me I didn't mean to interrupt but are you Paul Sheldon? |
Paul Sheldon: | Yes I am. |
Waitress: | I just want to let you know, I'm your number one fan. |
Paul Sheldon: | That's very sweet of you. (movie ends) |
Paul Sheldon: | That's very sweet of you. |
Spaldoni: | I'm out. |
Big Boy Caprice: | It only works if we're all in. |
Spaldoni: | Then it don't work. |
Sonny Corleone: | What are you gonna do? Nice college boy, didn't want to get mixed up in the family business. Now you want to gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped you in the face a little? What do you think this like the Army where you can shoot 'em from a mile away? No you gotta get up like this and, badda-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere. |
Sonny Corleone: | What are you gonna do? Nice college boy, didn't want to get mixed up in the family business. Now you want to gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped you in the face a little? What do you think this like the Army where you can shoot 'em from a mile away? No you gotta get up like this and badda-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere. |
Mike Locken: | You're not a psycho. You're...you're the patron poet of the manic depressives. |
Mike Locken: | You're not a psycho. You're, you're the patron poet of the manic depressives. |
Sonny: | Whatcha go to college? To get stupid? You're really stupid! |
Sonny Corleone: | [Tessio brings in Luca Brasi's bulletproof vest, delivered with a fish inside] What the hell is this? |
Clemenza: | It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes. |
Sonny Corleone: | Goddamn FBI don't respect nothin'. |
Sonny: | Your country ain't your blood remeber that |
Sonny: | Your country ain't your blood remember that. |
Sonny: | they're saps, cause they risk their lives for strangers |
Sonny: | They're saps because they risk their lives for strangers. |
Paul Sheldon: | You want it EAT IT!, EAT IT till you Choke, you sick twisted Fuck! |
Paul Sheldon: | Eat it till ya choke, you sick, twisted fuck! |
Sonny Corleone: | What you think this is the army where you shoot them a mile away, you got to get them close like this and Bada-Bing! you blow your brains over your nice Ivy League suit |
Sonny Corleone: | What you think this is the army where you shoot them a mile away, you got to get them close like this and Bada-Bing! You blow your brains over your nice Ivy League suit. |
Sonny Corleone: | (unwrapping the package of Luca's bulletproof vest-wrapped fish] What the hell is this? |
Sonny Corleone: | [unwrapping the package of Luca's bulletproof vest-wrapped fish] What the hell is this? |
Clemenza: | It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes. |
Cole Thornton: | Cole Thornton: What about using a gun? Mississippi: Johnny didn't believe in using guns. Cole Thornton: He's dead. Think about that. |
Cole Thornton: | What about using a gun? |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | Johnny didn't believe in using guns. |
Cole Thornton: | He's dead. Think about that. |
Coach Sam Winters: | I used to be Sonny, remember? |
Sonny Corleone: | i don't want my brother to come out of that toilet with just his dick in his hand. |
Sonny Corleone: | I don't want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands. |
Frank: | If I wanna meet people, I'll go to a fuckin' country club. |
Bull Harris: | ...might have anyhow if I wasn't tryin' to figure out what that fella's got on his head. |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | It's called a hat. |
Bull Harris: | Well, I'll have to take your word for it. |
Cole Thornton: | Did you get him? |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | Who? |
Cole Thornton: | The fella that ran outta the church! |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | Well, yes and no. |
Cole Thornton: | Yes and no? Did you or didn't you? |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | I hit the sign, and the sign hit him. |
Cole Thornton: | Well, that's great. |
Alan Bourdillon Trehearne (Mississippi): | He was limping when he left! |
Cole Thornton: | He was limping when he got here! |
Brian Piccolo: | So, Concannon calls this trap play, and it's just beautiful... 43 yards, wasn't it 43? Ah. So, Halas sees he's tired, and sends me in, so I go in, he comes out. Concannon then figures he's gonna get REALLY foxy... you know, Concannon is... So, he says, "Um, same play. VERY SAME PLAY." Now, a trap play is also called, a SUCKER play, because it makes the defense look REAL bad when it works. Now, defenses DO NOT like to look real bad, see... it makes 'em kinda surly... So, anyway, all the linemen go this way, and it's like I am lookin' at a team portrait of the Los Angeles Rams! "Hey, Deacon! Merlin! How's the family, Rosey?" |
Brian Piccolo: | So, Concannon calls this trap play, and it's just beautiful... 43 yards, wasn't it 43? Ah. So, Halas sees he's tired, and sends me in, so I go in, he comes out. Concannon then figures he's gonna get REALLY foxy... you know, Concannon is... So, he says, 'Um, same play. VERY SAME PLAY.' Now, a trap play is also called, a SUCKER play, because it makes the defense look REAL bad when it works. Now, defenses DO NOT like to look real bad, see... it makes 'em kinda surly... So, anyway, all the linemen go this way, and it's like I am lookin' at a team portrait of the Los Angeles Rams! 'Hey, Deacon! Merlin! How's the family, Rosey?' |
Brian Piccolo: | Well, on uh, Fake Draw Screen Right I uh, pick up the linebacker if he's comin, 'less of course it's Butkus, then I simply notify the quarterback to send for a preacher. |
Annie Wilkes: | It's the swearing, Paul. It has no nobility. |
Paul Sheldon: | These are slum kids, I was a slum kid. Everybody talks like that. |
Annie Wilkes: | THEY DO NOT! At the feedstore do I say, "Oh, now Wally, give me a bag of that F-in' pig feed, and a pound of that bitchly cow corn"? At the bank do I say, "Oh, Mrs. Malenger, here is one big bastard of a check, now give me some of your Christ-ing money!" THERE, LOOK THERE, NOW SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! |
Annie Wilkes: | THEY DO NOT! At the feedstore do I say, 'Oh, now Wally, give me a bag of that F-in' pig feed, and a pound of that bitchly cow corn'? At the bank do I say, 'Oh, Mrs. Malenger, here is one big bastard of a check, now give me some of your Christ-ing money!' THERE, LOOK THERE, NOW SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! |
Micky: | I'm comin' down there and I'm takin' your eyes out of your head and I'm sendin' them to your whore of a mother. |
Brian Piccolo: | I said thank you. |
Gale Sayers: | I know. |
Brian Piccolo: | Well, usually when someone says thank you you're supposed to say you're welcome or How's Your mother? |
Gale Sayers: | How's your mother? |
Brian Piccolo: | She's doin' fine, thanks for asking. |
Brian Piccolo: | I think I know what's wrong with me. |
Gale Sayers: | Yeah? What's that? |
Brian Piccolo: | I'm pregnant. |
Paul Sheldon: | Do you remember for all those years, nobody ever knew who Misery's real father was, or will they ever be reunited? It's all right here. Does she finally marry Ian, or will it be Winthorne? It's all right here. |
Annie Wilkes: | Paul you can't! |
Paul Sheldon: | Why not? I learn it from you. |
Mr. Seabolt: | The worst thing about this job is that nobody says thank you. |
Walter: | *whispering* We should call security... |
Emily: | *whispering* Good idea. |
Buddy: | *whispering* I like to whisper too. |
Calderon: | Hey, who does this guy think he is? |
Robert Deguerin: | Who, him? Well, he thinks he's the best guy in the game. I think he's right. Try not to piss him off, okay? |
Kilgannon: | "The rain people are made of rain, and when they cry, they disappear altogether." |
Kilgannon: | The rain people are made of rain, and when they cry, they disappear altogether. |
Frank: | Your criteria are so far up your ass, they can't see daylight! This is bullshit! |
Frank: | Your criteria are so far up your ass, they can't see daylight! |
Annie Wilkes: | [crazed] I don't want her dead! I want her! And you MURDERED her! |
Annie Wilkes: | I DON'T WANT HER SPIRIT! I WANT HER, AND YOU MURDERED HER! |
Paul Sheldon: | No! I didn't. |
Paul Sheldon: | No I didn't. |
Annie Wilkes: | Who did?! |
Annie Wilkes: | WHO DID? |
Paul Sheldon: | Annie, she died. She just slipped away. |
Paul Sheldon: | No one did! She just died! She... she... slipped away! |
Paul Sheldon: | Slipped away?! SLIPPED AWAY?! She didn't slip away, you did it! YOU did it! [gets metal stand] You murdered my Misery! [hits wall with stand] |
Paul Sheldon: | SLIPPED AWAY! SLIPPED AWAY? SHE DIDN'T JUST SLIP AWAY! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU MURDERED MY MISERY! |
Flint Lockwood: | Ah, Dad your ok, Good, ok now I need you to grab a file on mycomputer, drag it into my e-mail window-ahh-type in my name and press send. |
Flint Lockwood: | Ah, Dad your ok, good, ok now I need you to grab a file on mycomputer, drag it into my e-mail window-ahh-type in my name and press send. |
Tim Lockwood: | Uhh, Window? |
Sonny Corleone: | You touch my sister again and I'll kill you. |
Frank: | I am the last guy in the world that you wanna fuck with. |