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John Cazale
John Holland Cazale (/kəˈzæl/ kə-ZAL; August 12, 1935 – March 13, 1978) was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years. Cazale started as a theater actor in Boston, ranging from regional, to off-Broadway, to Broadway acting alongside Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Sam Waterston. Cazale soon became one of Hollywood's premier character actors, starting with his role as the doomed, weak-minded Fredo Corleone alongside longtime friend Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He also appeared in Coppola's The Conversation (1974) and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1977, Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer, but chose to complete his role in The Deer Hunter (1978). Shortly after filming was completed, he died in New York City on March 13, 1978, aged 42. Archive footage of Cazale in the role of Fredo appears in The Godfather Part III (1990).
Theatrical producer Joseph Papp called Cazale "an amazing intellect, an extraordinary person and a fine, dedicated artist". David Thomson writes that "It is the lives and works of people like John Cazale that make filmgoing worthwhile." A documentary tribute to Cazale, I Knew It Was You, was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival featuring interviews with Pacino, Streep, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet and Steve Buscemi.
John Holland Cazals was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to John Joseph Cazale and Cecilia Holland. He had an older sister, Catherine, and a younger brother, Stephen. He grew up in Winchester and attended high school at the Buxton School in Williamstown where he joined the drama club. He studied drama at Oberlin College in Ohio, transferring to Boston University, where he studied under Peter Kass.
Upon graduation, Cazale worked as a cab driver, as he started his theatrical career at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, appearing in Hotel Paradiso and Our Town in 1959. Reviewing his performance as George Gibbs in Our Town, critic Jean Pierre Frankenhuis said: "[Cazale's] portrayal is absolutely stupendous, hilarious, touching, thrilling. We found ourselves wishing that there were more scenes with him, such is the enjoyable performance he gives: a comedian of the first order!". Cazale moved to New York City and supported himself as a photographer while looking for acting work. He made one of his first appearances there in the Equity Library's production of Sidney Howard's Paths of Glory.
An Off-Broadway production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B. by the Equity Library Theatre followed on March 17, 1962, at the Master Theater. He also acted in a 1962 short film titled The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman.
In 1965, Cazale was part of the National Tour of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.
He worked as a messenger at Standard Oil, where he met Al Pacino, another aspiring actor. Pacino recalled: "When I first saw John, I instantly thought he was so interesting. Everybody was always around him because he had a very congenial way of expressing himself." In 1966, the two were cast in a play by Israel Horovitz, The Indian Wants the Bronx, playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. They reprised their roles in 1968 at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre, for which they both won Obie Awards. That same year, Cazale won another Obie for his role as Dolan in Horovitz's Line.
In 1968, Cazale appeared in his only television role, playing Tom Andrews in the episode "The Peep Freak" on the cop drama N.Y.P.D.
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John Cazale
John Holland Cazale (/kəˈzæl/ kə-ZAL; August 12, 1935 – March 13, 1978) was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years. Cazale started as a theater actor in Boston, ranging from regional, to off-Broadway, to Broadway acting alongside Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Sam Waterston. Cazale soon became one of Hollywood's premier character actors, starting with his role as the doomed, weak-minded Fredo Corleone alongside longtime friend Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He also appeared in Coppola's The Conversation (1974) and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1977, Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer, but chose to complete his role in The Deer Hunter (1978). Shortly after filming was completed, he died in New York City on March 13, 1978, aged 42. Archive footage of Cazale in the role of Fredo appears in The Godfather Part III (1990).
Theatrical producer Joseph Papp called Cazale "an amazing intellect, an extraordinary person and a fine, dedicated artist". David Thomson writes that "It is the lives and works of people like John Cazale that make filmgoing worthwhile." A documentary tribute to Cazale, I Knew It Was You, was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival featuring interviews with Pacino, Streep, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet and Steve Buscemi.
John Holland Cazals was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to John Joseph Cazale and Cecilia Holland. He had an older sister, Catherine, and a younger brother, Stephen. He grew up in Winchester and attended high school at the Buxton School in Williamstown where he joined the drama club. He studied drama at Oberlin College in Ohio, transferring to Boston University, where he studied under Peter Kass.
Upon graduation, Cazale worked as a cab driver, as he started his theatrical career at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, appearing in Hotel Paradiso and Our Town in 1959. Reviewing his performance as George Gibbs in Our Town, critic Jean Pierre Frankenhuis said: "[Cazale's] portrayal is absolutely stupendous, hilarious, touching, thrilling. We found ourselves wishing that there were more scenes with him, such is the enjoyable performance he gives: a comedian of the first order!". Cazale moved to New York City and supported himself as a photographer while looking for acting work. He made one of his first appearances there in the Equity Library's production of Sidney Howard's Paths of Glory.
An Off-Broadway production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B. by the Equity Library Theatre followed on March 17, 1962, at the Master Theater. He also acted in a 1962 short film titled The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman.
In 1965, Cazale was part of the National Tour of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.
He worked as a messenger at Standard Oil, where he met Al Pacino, another aspiring actor. Pacino recalled: "When I first saw John, I instantly thought he was so interesting. Everybody was always around him because he had a very congenial way of expressing himself." In 1966, the two were cast in a play by Israel Horovitz, The Indian Wants the Bronx, playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. They reprised their roles in 1968 at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre, for which they both won Obie Awards. That same year, Cazale won another Obie for his role as Dolan in Horovitz's Line.
In 1968, Cazale appeared in his only television role, playing Tom Andrews in the episode "The Peep Freak" on the cop drama N.Y.P.D.