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James Edmund Caan 1940 - 2022

James Edmund Caan was born on March 26, 1940 in The Bronx, Bronx County, New York United States to Arthur Caan and Sophie (Falkenstein) Caan, and had siblings Barbara Emily Licker and Ronald Steven Caan. He married Dee Jay Mattis on July 8, 1961 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California and they later divorced in 1966 in Los Angeles. They had a child Tara Alisa Deveuve. He also married Sheila Marie Caan on January 12, 1976 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and they later divorced in 1977 in Los Angeles. They had a child Scott Andrew Caan. He and Ingrid Heather Hajek married on September 9, 1990 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and they later divorced in 1995 in Los Angeles. They had a child Alexander James Caan. He and Linda Susan Caan married on October 7, 1995 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and they later divorced in 2017 in Los Angeles. They had children James Arthur Caan and Jacob Nicholas Caan. James Caan died at age 82 years old on July 6, 2022 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County.

James Edmund Caan
Jimmy
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March 26, 1940
The Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States
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July 6, 2022
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
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Biography ID: 192830780 What's this
James Edmund Caan James Caan (1940 - 2022)
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James Edmund Caan's History: 1940 - 2022

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  • Introduction

    Actor James Caan was born in the Bronx to parents Sophie (Falkenstein) and Arthur Caan, who were both Jewish immigrants from Germany. Father Arthur was a meat dealer and butcher in the United States. They had three children. James was married 4 times: 1st, to Dee Jay Mathis (1961 - 1966), 1 daughter, Tara; 2nd, to Sheila Marie Ryan, divorced in less than a year, one son, actor Scott Caan; 3rd, Ingrid Hajek, (1990 - 1994) 1 son; 4th, Linda Stokes (1995 - 2017), 2 sons. In total, James had five children by 4 wives. Famous for numerous roles on television in the 1960s from the "Naked City" to "Dr. Kildare", James called himself "the only New York Jewish cowboy". In the 1970s, he starred as Brian Piccolo in the TV movie "Brian's Song". Then came the role as Sonny Corleone in Francis Coppola's "The Godfather", which established him as a leading movie star. This role was so closely identified with the actor James, that he has been seen as (and honored as) an Italian American. He was of German/Jewish heritage. Two of his co-stars during these years were Donal Donnelly and Shirley Knight. James continued acting through the 2010s in film and on television, starring in the tv series "Las Vegas" playing the character "Big Ed" Deline. Later, he said: "I just fell in love with acting." His long career attested to that fact. His obituary in The New York Post shares many more details about his life: James Edmund Caan: Obituary
  • 03/26
    1940

    Birthday

    March 26, 1940
    Birthdate
    The Bronx, Bronx County, New York United States
    Birthplace
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  • Ethnicity & Family History

    James was caucasian, of German and Jewish heritage.

  • Nationality & Locations

    James was a United States citizen, having been born in the Bronx, New York.

  • Early Life & Education

    After attending school in New York City, James went to Michigan State University for two years. He then transferred to Hofstra University (Hempstead, New York) but didn't graduate. At Hofstra, he fell in love with acting. He then went to and graduated from NYC's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.

  • Religious Beliefs

    James was of Jewish heritage.

  • Professional Career

    James was a well-known and respected actor. According to IMDb, James has 137 actor credits to his name. The first acting credit was actually uncredited where James played a solider with a radio in the 1963 Irma la Douche film. He quickly rose to fame starring as Randall Simpson O'Connell in the 1964 Lady in a Cage, and a number of films in the 1960s. He acted in a dozen films in the 1970s including playing Santino "Sonny" Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather and The Godfather II (1974). In the 80s he played Detective Sgt. Matthew Sykes in the 1988 film Alien Nation, and in 1990 played Spud Spaldoni in Dick Tracy. In 1999 he returned to the mafia role, this time in a more comical manner, as Frank Vitale in Mickey Blue Eyes. To the most recent generation he is likely best remembered for playing Walter Hobbs in the Will Ferrell 2003 film Elf.

  • Personal Life & Family

    In college, James played football (he was hoping to go pro) and was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
  • 07/6
    2022

    Death

    July 6, 2022
    Death date
    Natural causes
    Cause of death
    Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
    Death location
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  • Obituary

    The New York Post James Caan, ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Elf’ and ‘Misery’ star, dead at 82 By Nadine DeNinno and Eric Hegedus July 7, 2022 1:15pm James Caan, the Bronx-born, Queens-raised actor who starred in “The Godfather,” “Elf,” “Brian’s Song,” “El Dorado” and “Misery,” among countless other films, has died. He was 82. “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time,” a statement on his official Twitter account read. No cause of death was immediately given. Caan, who was best known for playing Santino “Sonny” Corleone, the brother to Al Pacino’s Michael, reflected on the iconic Francis Ford Coppola film for its 50th anniversary earlier this year. “One of the things that made ‘The Godfather’ successful, besides brilliant directing and writing and wonderful actors … was that everyone really enjoyed making it, and that comes off on the screen,” Caan told The Post in March 2022. “And I think the audience can tell that we were having a good time doing what we were doing up there.” Caan, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the movie based on the Mario Puzo book, also called his co-star Marlon Brando, who played family patriarch Don Vito Corleone, “great” and suggested he had a significant sense of humor. “Marlon was great,” Caan said of Brando. “He had a great sense of humor, but he would have trouble figuring out the f—ing punch line sometimes. We’d go to lunch — those stupid Polish jokes were coming out at the time … and then two hours later, in the middle of a scene, I’d look at him and say something and all the sudden [imitates Brando laughing] I’d say, ‘What the f–k’s the matter with you?’ and he said [referring to the joke], ‘That’s funny.’ Two hours later it was playing in his f—ing head. He was like a child like that. I loved him.” Perhaps his NYC upbringing helped him play a hardened mafioso, since it’s all about “loyalty,” as he once said. “I really believe that you grow up a certain way in New York. There’s a New York morality, a sense of loyalty,” he said of growing up in NYC. “You know how to win and lose. There are a thousand kids outside; you know who to push and who not to push. There’s a sixth sense you develop just because it’s New York.” As for Caan, acting wasn’t always his dream growing up as the son of a butcher. While attending Hofstra University, Caan played football and aspired to be a professional player. But Hofstra was where he ended up falling in love with acting, after joining the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. His first credit was on Broadway in the 1961 production of “Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole,” followed by minor film and TV roles. His first leading role was in 1965 in Howard Hawks’ “Red Line 7000,” followed by a star-making turn in the 1966 Western “El Dorado” opposite John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. He was eventually led to “The Godfather” after starring in the 1969 film “The Rain People,” directed by Coppola, who later cast him in the iconic mob picture. In the interview with The Post, timed to the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather,” Caan reminisced about numerous scenes — including a key improvised segment in which Sonny beats up his pregnant sister’s husband, Carlo (Gianni Russo), on the street with his fists, his feet and the top of a garbage can. “The stick I threw at [Carlo] when he’s running away, that wasn’t in the script,” he said. “I took one of those industrial brooms and cut the end off and put it under my seat [in the car as Sonny drives up to confront Carlo]. They said, ‘It’s not in the script’ and I said, ‘What the f–k’s the difference, just put it down there.’ I swear to God I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew that’s what a lot of guys did in my neighborhood. We called them ‘attitude adjusters.’ I just grabbed it and fired [the stick] at him and Francis said, ‘That’s great, Jimmy, you looked like you were going to miss him.’ So he’s lying behind the cars on the other side and luckily, on the upswing, I caught him on the top of the coconut.” Regarding his character Sonny’s big, bloody death scene, Caan told The Post earlier this year that it was a dangerous sequence to film. “I would never have shot that scene under any other conditions — but there were girls on the set, and I couldn’t look like a p—y,” Caan said. “That’s the only reason I did it. There were 147 squibs on my body … Those squibs were made like brass caskets, a square inch of brass with a little V on top where they pour gunpowder and they were sewn into my jacket. The effects guy, AD Flowers, said, ‘I don’t know if I ever put this many squibs on anybody, ever.’” As for “The Godfather” as a whole, he said the film is sincere — but also revealed he was gunning for Pacino’s part. “Yeah, I had a number of auditions for different parts,” he told Variety. “I wanted to play Sonny, because that’s what Francis wanted. But he called me one night from New York and said, ‘Jimmy, the studio wants you to come here and test.’ I said, ‘Test what? You got a Porsche you want me to drive around the block?’ And Francis told me they wanted me to play Michael. So I went to New York and read for the role and then they had Al [Pacino] come in and test and he was a little self-destructive. They warned him, ‘Don’t do that again or you’re fired.’ But Francis got what he wanted in the end. He always does.” He also said working with the film’s cast was as legendary as the movie, which is beloved by fans decades on. “There’s something that doesn’t get dated and that’s the truth,” he said. “‘The Godfather’ has a lot of truth to it, a lot of sincerity to it and a lot of art. The cast was great and we all had a lot of fun making it. Having fun and liking the people you’re working with is a very important ingredient, which I found out after 130 movies or whatever.” Caan also said the scene in which Sonny is brutally taken out was done in just one take. “F–k yeah,” he said. “Once was enough.” He also added that the squibs, or miniature explosive devices, “would blow a hole in you.” “It was very scary. I had 147 squibs on me and there were 5,000 in the tollbooth and the truth is that I only did it because there were girls on the set. I remember [special effects head] A.D. Flowers putting these wires on me, and as he’s putting them on me he’s mumbling to himself about how he never put this many squibs on somebody in his life. I told him, ‘Shut the f–k up, A.D., will ya, for God’s sake?’ Thankfully we only did it once.” While Caan played a tough guy in “The Godfather,” the actor said the exact opposite for “Misery,” alongside Kathy Bates. “I play a total victim. I get the c*** beat out of me. And I look like I’m between 80 and death,” he proudly told the Los Angeles Times in 1990 of his memorable role in the thriller. “I sometimes wondered if this was a sadistic joke on Rob’s part,” he said of director Rob Reiner’s take on the adaptation of Stephen King’s work. In the film, Caan plays an injured, bedridden author who is held hostage by an infatuated fan, played by Bates. “You know, ‘Let’s get the most hyper guy in Hollywood to stay in bed for 15 weeks.’ . . . I was doing something I’d never done. For me, this being a totally reactionary character is really much tougher.” Despite the tough guy visage in “Godfather,” Caan also took on comedy, starring as Will Ferrell’s long-lost biological dad in “Elf.” While fans have clamored for a sequel to the beloved Christmas flick, Caan said it never happened over a dispute between Ferrell and director Jon Favreau. “We were gonna do it and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I finally got a franchise movie, I could make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do.’ And the director and Will didn’t get along very well,” Caan told the Bull & Fox radio show in 2020. “So, Will wanted to do it, he didn’t want the director, and he had it in his contract, it was one of those things.” Caan had five children, “Ocean’s 11” star Scott Caan, 45; James Arthur Caan, 26; Tara A. Caan, 57; Jacob Nicholas Caan, 23; and Alexander James Caan, 31. “My dad is probably one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met,” Scott told The Fall magazine in 2017. “When you’re young, you don’t see your father as a legend, you just know that he’s an interesting, colorful, wild kinda cat and you think, ‘I want to be like that guy.’ If you come from creative people, it’s just in you.”
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2 Memories, Stories & Photos about James

Actor James Caan
Photo of Daniel Pinna Daniel Pinna
10.5k+ favorites
07/07/2022
Actor James Caan
Actor James Caan best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado.
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James Caan
Photo of Kathy Pinna Kathy Pinna
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07/07/2022
James Caan
A photo of James Caan, actor, published with his obituary in the New York Post
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Photo of AncientFaces AncientFaces
411 favorites
07/07/2022
Sadly, actor James Caan died last night at the age of 82. He brought us so many years of entertainment, beginning with an appearance on the tv series "Dr. Kildare" in the 1960s, to Brian in "Brian's Song" in the 1970s and the character Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather", to Ed Deline in the tv show "Las Vegas" in the 2010s, and of course for his scrooge like role in the Will Ferrell Christmas movie 'Elf'.
James once said "I just fell in love with acting". Well James, we all fell in love with you! James was married four times and had five children.
Join us in honoring and remembering James Edmund Caan (1940-2022) RIP
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James Caan's Family Tree & Friends

Marriage

Dee Jay Mattis

&

James Edmund Caan

July 8, 1961
Marriage date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Marriage location
Divorce
Cause of Separation
1966
Divorce date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Divorce location
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James Edmund Caan
James Edmund Caan Mar 26, 1940 - Jul 6, 2022
Dee Jay Mattis born c. 1940
Child
Tara Alisa Deveuve born Nov 5, 1964
Marriage

Sheila Marie Caan

&

James Edmund Caan

January 12, 1976
Marriage date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Marriage location
Divorce
Cause of Separation
1977
Divorce date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Divorce location
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James Edmund Caan
James Edmund Caan Mar 26, 1940 - Jul 6, 2022
Sheila Marie Caan Sep 17, 1952 - Sep 18, 2012
Child
Scott Andrew Caan born Aug 23, 1976
Marriage

Ingrid Heather Hajek

&

James Edmund Caan

September 9, 1990
Marriage date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Marriage location
Divorce
Cause of Separation
1995
Divorce date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Divorce location
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James Edmund Caan
James Edmund Caan Mar 26, 1940 - Jul 6, 2022
Ingrid Heather Hajek born Jan 6, 1960
Child
Alexander James Caan born Apr 10, 1991
Marriage

Linda Susan Caan

&

James Edmund Caan

October 7, 1995
Marriage date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Marriage location
Divorce
Cause of Separation
2017
Divorce date
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Divorce location
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James Edmund Caan
James Edmund Caan Mar 26, 1940 - Jul 6, 2022
Linda Susan Caan born Apr 25, 1955
Child
James Arthur Caan born Nov 6, 1995
Jacob Nicholas Caan born Sep 24, 1998
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Other Biographies

Other James Caan Biographies

Caan, James (Born Nov 6, 1995)

Other Caan Family Biographies

Caan, Alfred (Jun 27, 1906 - Nov 1983) Caan, Wilhelmine (Jun 11, 1912 - Oct 1980) Caan, Werner (Nov 12, 1921 - Sep 29, 1994) Caan, Hedwig (Sep 4, 1904 - Sep 1989) Caan, Arthur (Jun 28, 1909 - Jan 13, 1986) Caan, Roslyn (Nov 15, 1932 - Nov 12, 1999) Caan, Herbert (Jun 23, 1930 - Jun 1971) Caan, Helene (Feb 20, 1895 - Nov 1976) Caan, Jack (Jul 1, 1920 - Nov 30, 2007) Caan, Hanna (Jun 26, 1911 - Jul 31, 2000)
Caan, Hyman (May 5, 1914 - Aug 1973) Caan, Esther (Apr 1, 1918 - Feb 22, 2005) Caan, Mary (Aug 24, 1938 - Oct 23, 2008) Caan, Marie (Sep 3, 1899 - Jan 1974) Caan, Wesley (Jan 26, 1920 - Sep 11, 1999) Caan, Marie (Aug 4, 1904 - Jan 10, 1992) Caan, Frank (Nov 30, 1887 - Oct 1963) Caan, Harold (Jan 5, 1905 - May 1985) Caan, Jennie (Sep 26, 1899 - Jan 1984) Caan, Helen (Apr 23, 1928 - Aug 30, 2010)
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