James Caan

James Caan has been married four times. In 1961, he married Dee Jay Mathis. The couple had a daughter named Tara before divorcing in 1966.

He then married Sheila Marie Ryan in 1976. Their son, Scott Caan, who is also an actor, was born in August 1976. However, the couple parted ways a year later.

The American actor was married to Ingrid Hajek from 1990 to 1994. The couple has a son named Alexander James Caan.

James Edmund Caan was born on March 26, 1940 in New York to Sophie and Arthur, a butcher, as one of their three children.

He received his schooling in New York City and later went on to attend Michigan State University. He eventually transferred to Hofstra University. However, he didn’t graduate from there.

During his time at Hofstra, he developed a deep interest in acting and enrolled at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and studied there for five years.

James Caan started his career on the stage by appearing in off-Broadway plays including ‘La Ronde’ before making his Broadway debut in the play ‘Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole’. He then made his first television appearance in an episode of the series ‘Naked City’.

In 1963, he landed his first movie role in ‘Irma la Douce’. The following year, he got featured in an episode of ‘Channing’. That year, the actor appeared in the thriller film ‘Lady in a Cage’ as well.

He had a role in the flick ‘The Glory Guys’ in 1965. The same year, he played Mike Marsh in the movie ‘Red Line 7000’. He next did the films ‘El Dorado’, ‘Countdown’, ‘Games’, ‘Submarine X-1’ and ‘Journey to Shiloh’.

Caan next portrayed a brain-damaged football player in the movie ‘The Rain People’ (1969) for which he was highly praised. He then filmed for the flick ‘Gone with the West’ that was not released until 1975. In the year 1970, he did ‘Rabbit, Run’. The following year, he got featured in ‘T.R. Baskin’.

The actor was then cast in ‘Slither’ (1973), a romantic comedy that also starred Peter Boyle and Sally Kellerman. He then played the title role in the flick ‘The Gambler’ in 1974. The same year, Caan appeared in the action comedy film ‘Freebie and the Bean’.

In 1971, James Caan appeared in the TV film ‘Brian's Song.’ In this movie, he played the dying football player Brian Piccolo who shares a great bond with Chicago Bears teammate Gale Sayers. The production was a huge success and critics even called the movie one of the finest television movies ever made. The flick also earned Caan an Emmy Award nomination.

Caan was cast as Sonny Corleone in the crime film ‘The Godfather’. Produced by Albert S. Ruddy and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this movie was based on Mario Gianluigi Puzo’s best-selling novel of the same name. This movie was the highest-grossing movie of 1972 and went on to win several Oscar awards. Also, Caan’s performance in the flick earned him one Academy Award nomination as well as one Golden Globe Award nomination.

For a few years, the American actor served as the chairman of Openfilm, an internet company that was dedicated to help upcoming filmmakers. Openfilm closed in 2015.