James Caan

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BIRTHDAY

March 26, 1940

Bronx, NY

RECENT CREDITS

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (FILM) Sep. 18, 2009

Get Smart (FILM) Jun. 20, 2008

Hollywood Hotshots (TV) Mar. 5, 2007

Jimmy Kimmel Live (TV) Mar. 18, 2006

Ellen DeGeneres Show (TV) Mar. 3, 2006

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BIOGRAPHY

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A macho leading man whose off-screen woes recall the hotheaded antics of his seminal character from The Godfather, Caan seemed to have it all in the early '70s. After earning raves and an Emmy nomination as a dying football player in the 1971 TV-movie Brian's Song, he made a splash on the big screen the next year in The Godfather and earned an Oscar nod. A string of mostly disappointing features followed (Funny Girl, Gone with the West, Hide in Plain Sight, which he also directed) before Caan suddenly exited the Hollywood scene in 1982. For five years he was MIA, and although rumors about his absence abounded, no one ever figured out the entire story. He returned to the big screen in the Vietnam drama Gardens of Stone (helmed by Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola) and continued to work steadily in projects of varying quality, sometimes parodying his gangster persona (Honeymoon in Vegas, Mickey Blue Eyes). During the '90s trouble seemed to follow wherever Caan went. He was linked to Heidi Fleiss, accused of assault, flashed a gun in public, and did a stint in rehab. But he grew wiser — and calmer — with age, and by the new millennium he seemed to have put his tabloid days behind him. In 2003, after four decades in showbiz, he took a gamble on series television and hit the jackpot on the popular drama Las Vegas. He left the show after its fourth season, reportedly to pursue big-screen work.

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Headlines

Top 10 Football Movies

Jan. 28, 2009

Break out the chips, the dips and hot wings. Amass large quantities of beer. Gather your friends around a big-screen TV. It’s Superbowl time! We ranked 10 of our favorite big-screen football films, ranging from high school to college to the pros, in honor of the big day.

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Leaving 'Las Vegas': James Caan, Nikki Cox Fold, Molly Simms Antes Up for the Season F...

Posted: Mar. 8, 2007

Stars Line Up to Take Part in Marlon Brando Documentary

Posted: Feb. 1, 2007

Warren Beatty to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Honor

Posted: Nov. 15, 2006

Box Office Analysis, Nov. 9: "Revolutions" Rules

Posted: Nov. 7, 2003

News, Aug. 19: More Absences on "Raymond" Set, Emmys Awarded in Select Animation Categ...

Posted: Aug. 19, 2003

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