James Caan a hollywood actor who portrayed Brian Piccolo in Brian's Song, passed away on July 6th at the age of 82. After early roles in Howard Hawks's El Dorado (1966), Robert Altman's Countdown (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969), he came to prominence for playing his signature role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised the role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974) with a cameo appearance at the end.
Caan had significant roles in films such as Brian's Song (1971), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Gambler (1974), Rollerball (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Alan J. Pakula's Comes a Horseman (1978). He had sporadically worked in film since the 1980s, with his notable performances including roles in Thief (1981), Gardens of Stone (1987), Misery (1990), Dick Tracy (1990), Bottle Rocket (1996), The Yards (2000), Dogville (2003), and Elf (2003).
Below is a more concise list of his many roles:
1963 Irma la Douce Soldier with Radio
1964 Lady in a Cage Randall Simpson O'Connell
1965 The Glory Guys Pvt. Anthony Dugan
1967 El Dorado Alan Bourdillion "Mississippi" Traherne
1968 Countdown Lee Stegler
Submarine X-1 Cmdr. Richard Bolton
Journey to Shiloh Buck Burnett
1969 The Rain People Jimmy Kilgannon
1970 Brian's Song Brian Piccolo Television film
Rabbit, Run Rabbit Angstrom
1972 T.R. Baskin Larry Moore
The Godfather Santino "Sonny" Corleone
1973 Slither Dick Kanipsia
Cinderella Liberty John Baggs Jr.
1974 The Gambler Axel Freed
Freebie and the Bean Freebie
The Godfather Part II Santino "Sonny" Corleone
1975 Gone with the West Jud McGraw
Funny Lady Billy Rose
Rollerball Jonathan E.
1976 The Killer Elite Mike Locken
Silent Movie Himself
Harry and Walter Go to New York Harry Dighby
1977 A Bridge Too Far Sgt. Eddie Dohun
Another Man, Another Chance David Williams
1978 Comes a Horseman Frank "Buck" Athearn
1979 1941 Sailor in Fight
Chapter Two George Schneider
1980 Hide in Plain Sight Thomas Hacklin Also director
1981 Thief Frank
1982 Kiss Me Goodbye Jolly Villano
1984 Les Uns et les Autres Jack Glenn / Jason Glenn
1987 Gardens of Stone SFC Clell Hazard
1988 Alien Nation Det. Sgt. Matthew Sykes
1990 Dick Tracy Spud Spaldoni
Misery Paul Sheldon Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
1991 The Dark Backward Doctor Scurvy
For the Boys Eddie Sparks
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas Tommy Korman
1993 The Program Coach Sam Winters
Flesh and Bone Roy Sweeney
1995 A Boy Called Hate Jim
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Boyle
1996 North Star Sean McLennon
Bottle Rocket Mr. Abe Henry
Eraser U.S. Marshal Robert Deguerin
Bulletproof Frank Colton
1997 Howard Hawks: American Artist Himself
1998 Poodle Springs Philip Marlowe
1999 This Is My Father Kieran Johnson
Mickey Blue Eyes Frank Vitale
2000 The Yards Frank Olchin
Luckytown Charlie Doyles
The Way of the Gun Joe Sarno
2001 Viva Las Nowhere Roy Baker
In the Shadows Lance Huston
2001 Night at the Golden Eagle Prison Warden
2002 City of Ghosts Marvin
2003 Dogville The Big Man
This Thing of Ours Jimmy "The Con"
Jericho Mansions Leonard Grey
Elf Walter Hobbs
2005 Santa's Slay Darren Mason
2008 Wisegal Salvatore Palmeri
Get Smart The President
New York, I Love You Mr. Riccoli
2009 Middle Men Jerry Haggerty
Mercy Gerry Ryan
Something, Something, Something, Darkside
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Tim Lockwood
2010 Henry's Crime Max Saltzman
Minkow Paul Vinsant
2011 Detachment Mr. Charles Seaboldt
2012 Small Apartments Mr. Allspice
That's My Boy Father McNally
2013 Blood Ties Leon Pierzynski
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Tim Lockwood
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya The Bamboo Cutter
2014 The Outsider Karl Schuster
A Fighting Man Brother Albright
Preggoland Walter Huxley
2015 The Throwaways Lt. Col. Christopher Holden
Sicilian Vampire Professor Bernard Isaacs
2016 The Good Neighbor Harold Grainey
The Red Maple Leaf George Lawrence Secord
2017 Undercover Grandpa Grandpa
Holy Lands Harry Rosenmerck
2018 Out of Blue Col. Tom Rockwell
2021 Queen Bees Dan Simpson
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1961 Route 66 Johnny- street gang leader
1964 Combat! German sergeant Episode: "Anatomy of a Patrol"
1969 The F.B.I. Eugene Episode "A Life in the Balance"
1996 NewsRadio James Caan / Himself
2001 Warden of Red Rock John Flinders
A Glimpse of Hell Capt. Fred Moosally
2002 Blood Crime Sheriff Morgan McKenna
2003–2007 Las Vegas Ed Deline 88 episodes
2004 The Simpsons Himself (voice) Oven War"
2010 Family Guy Himself (voice) Episode: "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side"
Annoying Orange Jalepeño (voice) Web series
2012 Hawaii Five-0 Tony Archer Episode: "Lekio"
2013 Magic City Sy Berman 5 episodes
Back in the Game Terry "The Cannon" Gannon 13 episodes
2015 Wuthering High School Mr. Earnshaw Television film
2016 JL Ranch Tap Peterson Television film
2020 JL Ranch: The Wedding Gift Television film