John Cazale

Who was John Cazale?

John Holland Cazale was an American actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter. He appeared in archival footage in The Godfather Part III, also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, making him the only actor to have this multi-film distinction. From his start as an acclaimed theater actor, he became one of Hollywood's premier character actors, starting with his role as Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather.

"Cazale broke hearts on screen with portrayals of volatile, vulnerable, vacillating men, including Pacino's tragic bank-robbing partner in Dog Day Afternoon," wrote David Germain of the Associated Press. Cazale is described as an actor "whose intense face is known to just about any serious cinema fan but whose name often escapes them".

He chose to continue acting despite being diagnosed with lung cancer and died in New York City on March 12, 1978, shortly after completing his role in The Deer Hunter. He was 42 years old.