1. John Cazale appeared in five films over seven years, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at their respective awards ceremonies.
32 Facts About John Cazale
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John Cazale soon became one of Hollywood's premier character actors, starting with his role as the doomed, weak-minded Fredo Corleone opposite longtime friend Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
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John Cazale then appeared in Coppola's The Conversation and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination.
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In 1977, John Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer, but chose to complete his role in The Deer Hunter.
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John Cazale died shortly after, in New York City on March 13,1978.
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John Cazale was born in Revere, Massachusetts, the son of Cecilia John Cazale.
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John Cazale had an older sister, Catherine, and a younger brother, Stephen.
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John Cazale grew up in Winchester and attended high school at the Buxton School in Williamstown where he joined the drama club.
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John Cazale studied drama at Oberlin College in Ohio, transferring to Boston University, where he studied under Peter Kass.
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John Cazale moved to New York City and supported himself as a photographer while looking for acting work.
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John Cazale made one of his first appearances there in the Equity Library's production of Sidney Howard's Paths of Glory.
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John Cazale acted in a 1962 short film titled The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman.
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In 1965, John Cazale was part of the National Tour of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.
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John Cazale worked as a messenger at Standard Oil, where he met Al Pacino, another aspiring actor.
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That same year, John Cazale won another Obie for his role as Dolan in Horovitz's Line.
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In 1969, John Cazale joined the Long Wharf Theatre Company, where he appeared for the next three seasons in a number of productions, including Tartuffe, The Country People, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Iceman Cometh, and You Can't Take It With You.
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John Cazale reprised his role in Line in a 1971 production at the Theatre De Lys.
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Bruce Fretts, in Entertainment Weekly, wrote that "John Cazale makes his character's wounded pride hauntingly palpable".
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John Cazale again starred alongside Pacino in Sidney Lumet's 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.
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The film's screenwriter Frank Pierson said "the film had been cast with many of the actors that Al Pacino had worked with in New York, including John Cazale, who was a close friend and collaborator in The Godfather".
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One of the things that I love about the casting of John Cazale was that he had a tremendous sadness about him.
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John Cazale's leading lady was the recent Yale School of Drama graduate Meryl Streep.
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John Cazale completed his scenes, but died before the film was released.
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John Cazale was considered all but uninsurable due to his illness, jeopardizing his participation in the film, but according to Streep the costs were paid by De Niro, who wanted John Cazale to be in it.
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John Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1977 which was likely related to his history of chain smoking.
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John Cazale will make fast friends in his new place.
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John Cazale was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts.
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John Cazale lost to Richard Benjamin, who won the award for his work in The Sunshine Boys.
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John Cazale had learned to put the lack of recognition into context.
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John Cazale was described by those close to him to be "often shy" and "very emotionally sensitive".
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John Cazale was in five films, all Oscar-nominated films, and he was great in all of them.
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John Cazale was particularly great in Godfather II and I don't think he got that kind of recognition.