James Edmund Caan (March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor who was nominated for several awards, including four Golden Globes, an Emmy, and an Oscar. Caan was awarded a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978. 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).

Filmography

• 2023Fast Charlie — Stan Mullen
• 2021Queen Bees — Dan
• 2020JL Family Ranch: The Wedding Gift — Tap
• 2019Holy Lands — Harry
• 2019Out of Blue — Col. Tom Rockwell
• 2018Con Man — Agent Gamble
• 2017Good Enough — Roger Flynn
• 2017The Red Maple Leaf — Senator George Lawrence Secord
• 2017Undercover Grandpa — Grandpa
• 2016J.L. Family Ranch — Tap
• 2016The Good Neighbor — Harold Grainey
• 2015Sicilian Vampire — Professor Bernard Issaacs
• 2015The Outsider — Schuuster
• 2015The Throwaways — Lt. Col. Christopher Holden
• 2015Wuthering High — Earnshaw
• 2014A Fighting Man — Mike 'Brother' Albright
• 2014Preggoland — Walter
• Back in the Game — Terry 'The Cannon' Gannon, Sr.
• 2013Blood Ties — Leon
• 2013Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 — Tim Lockwood (voice)
• 2012For the Love of Money — Micky
• 2012Small Apartments — Mr. Allspice
• 2012That's My Boy — Father McNally
• 2011Detachment — Mr. Charles Seaboldt
• Hawaii Five-0 — Tony Archer
• 2010Henry's Crime — Max Saltzman
• Annoying Orange — Jalapeño
• 2009Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — Tim Lockwood (voice)
• 2009Mercy — Gerry Ryan
• 2009Middle Men — Jerry Haggerty
• 2008Get Smart — The President
• 2008New York, I Love You — Mr. Riccoli, the Pharmacist
• 2008Wisegal — Salvatore Palmeri
• 2005Gangland: Bullets over Hollywood
• 2005Santa's Slay — Darren Mason
• 2004The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie — Mr. Harry Dewitt
• 2004Willie Nelson & Friends: Outlaws & Angels
• 2003Dogville — The Big Man
• 2003Elf — Walter
• 2003Jericho Mansions — Leonard Grey
• Las Vegas — Ed Deline
• 2002Blood Crime — Sheriff Morgan McKenna
• 2002City of Ghosts — Marvin
• 2002Lathe of Heaven — Dr. William Haber
• 2002Night at the Golden Eagle — Prison Warden
• 2002This Thing of Ours — Jimmy
• 2001A Glimpse of Hell — Capt. Fred Moosally
• Crossing Jordan — Ed Deline
• 2001Dead Simple — Roy Baker
• 2001In the Shadows — Lance Huston
• 2001Warden of Red Rock — John Flinders
• 2000Luckytown — Charlie Doyles
• 2000The Way of the Gun — Joe Sarno
• 2000The Yards — Frank Olchin
• Family Guy — James Caan (voice)
• 1999Mickey Blue Eyes — Frank Vitale
• 1999Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
• 1999This Is My Father — Kieran Johnson
• 1998Poodle Springs — Philip Marlowe
• 1996A Boy Called Hate — Jim
• 1996Bottle Rocket — Mr. Abe Henry
• 1996Bulletproof — Frank Colton
• 1996Eraser — DeGuerin
• 1996North Star — Sean McLennon
• NewsRadio — James Caan (uncredited)
• 1993Flesh and Bone — Roy Sweeney
• 1993Harley-Davidson: The American Motorcycle
• 1993The Program — Sam Winters
• 1992Earth and the American Dream — Reader (voice)
• 1992Honeymoon in Vegas — Tommy Korman
• 1992The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 — Sonny Corleone
• 1991For the Boys — Eddie Sparks
• 1991The Dark Backward — Dr. Scurvy
• 1990Dick Tracy — Spaldoni
• 1990Misery — Paul Sheldon
• The Simpsons — James Caan (voice)
• 1988Alien Nation — Matthew Sykes
• 1987Gardens of Stone — Sgt. Clell Hazard
• Star Trek: The Next Generation — Writer
• 1985Dorothy Stratten: The Untold Story
• 1982Kiss Me Goodbye — Jolly
• 1981Bolero — Jack Glenn / Jason Glenn
• 1981Thief — Frank
• 1980Hide in Plain Sight — Thomas Hacklin, Jr., Director
• 19791941 — Sailor in Fight (uncredited)
• 1979Chapter Two — George Schneider
• 1978Comes a Horseman — Frank 'Buck' Athearn
• 1977A Bridge Too Far — SSgt. Eddie Dohun
• 1977Another Man, Another Chance — David Williams
• Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television — Santino "Sonny" Corleone
• 1977Playboy's Playmate Party
• 1976Harry and Walter Go to New York — Harry Digby
• 1976Silent Movie — James Caan
• 1975From Rome to Rollerball: The Full Circle
• 1975Funny Lady — Billy Rose
• 1975Gone with the West — Jud McGraw
• 1975Rickles
• 1975Rollerball — Jonathan E.
• 1975The Killer Elite — Mike Locken
• 1974Freebie and the Bean — Freebie
• 1974The Gambler — Axel
• 1974The Godfather Part II — Sonny Corleone (uncredited), Thanks
• 1973Cinderella Liberty — John Baggs Jr.
• 1973Slither — Dick Kanipsia
• 1972The Godfather — Sonny Corleone
• 1971Brian's Song — Brian Piccolo
• 1971T.R. Baskin — Larry Moore
• 1970Rabbit, Run — Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom
• 1969The Rain People — Jimmy Kilgannon
• 1968Journey to Shiloh — Buck Burnett
• 1968Submarine X-1 — Cmdr. Richard Bolton, RNVR
• 1967Countdown — Lee Stegler
• 1967Games — Paul Montgomery
• 1966El Dorado — Mississippi
• Get Smart — Rupert of Rathskeller (uncredited)
• 1965Red Line 7000 — Mike
• The F.B.I. — Eugene David Holt
• 1965The Glory Guys — Pvt. Anthony Dugan
• 1964Lady in a Cage — Randall Simpson O'Connell
• 1963Irma la Douce — Soldier with Radio (uncredited)
• Kraft Suspense Theatre — Rick Peterson
• Combat! — Sgt. Beckman
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Jay Shaw / Phil Beldone
• The Wide Country — Buddie Simpson
• Ben Casey
• Dr. Kildare — Charley Johnson
• Route 66
• The Untouchables — Keir Brannon
• Naked City — Marty Feketi

Appearances as themselves (45)

• 2024Chuck Zito: An American Story — Self
• 2023King on Screen — Self
• Secrets of Playboy — Self
• The Holiday Movies That Made Us — Self
• 2019It Takes a Lunatic — Self
• The American West — Self
• 2014Altman — Self
• 2014Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire — Self - Actor (archive footage)
• 2013Seduced and Abandoned — Self
• 2012The Godfather Legacy — Self
• 2011His Way — Self
• 2009Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side — Self (voice)
• 2008Hollywood Gangster — Self
• 2008The Making of 'Bottle Rocket' — Self
• 2007Brando — Self
• 2007Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project — Self
• 2006The Godfather and the Mob — Self (archive footage)
• 2006The Phillie Phanatic Goes Hollywood — Self (uncredited)
• 2004Elf: Film School for Kids — Self
• 2004Elf: That's a Wrap — Self
• Leçon de Cinéma — Self
• 2003Misery Loves Company — Self
• 2001Playboy Mansion Parties Uncensored — Self
• 1999Playmate Pajama Party — self
• 1999The Making of a Mobster: 'Mickey Blue Eyes' — Self
• 1999Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity — Self
• 1997Howard Hawks: American Artist — Self
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show — Self - Guest
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• 1992The Please Watch the Jon Lovitz Special, Live! — Self (uncredited)
• 1990The Godfather Family: A Look Inside — Self / Sonny Corleone / Michael Corleone
• Biography — Self
• 1982Night of 100 Stars — Self
• 1979Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration — Self
• 1979Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party — Self (uncredited)
• Ciné regards — Self
• 1977Superstunt — Self
• 1975Funny Girl to Funny Lady — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• 1971The Godfather: Behind the Scenes — Self
• 1968Filmmaker — Self (uncredited)
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self - Guest
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Nominee / Presenter