John Cazale

1935–1978 · American actor

John Holland Cazale 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).

John Cazale, in order

1. 1972 The Godfather: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola · critics 97%, audiences 98% · streaming on fuboTV, Paramount+, MGM+
2. 1974 The Conversation: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola · critics 94%, audiences 89% · streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, YouTube (free)
3. 1974 The Godfather Part II: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola · critics 96%, audiences 97% · streaming on fuboTV, Paramount+
4. 1975 Dog Day Afternoon: acted · directed by Sidney Lumet · critics 94%, audiences 90% · streaming on Hoopla
5. 1977 The Godfather Saga (TV movie): acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola
6. 1978 The Deer Hunter: acted · directed by Michael Cimino · critics 86%, audiences 91% · streaming on Netflix
7. 1990 The Godfather Part III: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola
8. 1992 The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola
9. 2009 I Knew It Was You (short film): acted · directed by Richard Shepard · streaming on Tubi