James Caan

Season 6, Episode 612

Original Airdate: September 24, 2000

James Caan was born on March 26, 1940, in the Bronx. Deciding that the family meat-packing business wasn't for him, he chose to study at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse and then with acting coach Wynn Handman.

Stage and television roles followed, as well as small parts in films including an uncredited role in Irma La Douce (1963). Shortly thereafter he gained notice in the Howard Hawks western El Dorado (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969).

However, it was a role in a classic TV movie that really launched his career, playing the title role in Brian'sSong (1970). Next he teamed up with Coppola again for the big screen classic The Godfather (1972). Playing hotheaded Sonny Corleone, Caan had one of cinema's most memorable death scenes ever.