John Cazale

John Holland Cazale was born on August 12, 1935, in Revere, Massachusetts, the son of John Joseph Cazale and Cecilia Holland. He grew up in Winchester and attended the Buxton School in Williamstown, where he participated in the drama club. He went on to study drama at Oberlin College before transferring to Boston University, where he trained under Peter Kass. He had an older sister, Catherine, and a younger brother, Stephen.

After graduating, Cazale supported himself driving a cab while beginning his theatrical career at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, where he appeared in Hotel Paradiso and Our Town in 1959. He subsequently relocated to New York City, working as a photographer while pursuing acting opportunities. Among his early New York appearances was a role in the Equity Library's production of Sidney Howard's Paths of Glory, followed by an Off-Broadway production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B. at the Master Theater on March 17, 1962. That same year he appeared in the short film The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman. In 1965, he joined the national tour of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.

While working as a messenger at Standard Oil, Cazale met Al Pacino, who would become a longtime friend and collaborator. In 1966, the two were cast together in Israel Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. They reprised those roles in 1968 at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre, earning both actors Obie Awards. That same year Cazale received a second Obie for playing Dolan in Horovitz's Line. Also in 1968, he made his only television appearance, playing Tom Andrews in the episode "The Peep Freak" on the cop drama N.Y.P.D. In 1969, he joined the Long Wharf Theatre Company, where he performed for three seasons in productions including Tartuffe, The Country People, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Iceman Cometh, and You Can't Take It With You. He returned to Line in a 1971 production at the Theatre De Lys, sharing the stage with Richard Dreyfuss, Barnard Hughes, John Randolph, and Ann Wedgeworth. During that run, casting director Fred Roos observed his performance and recommended him to director Francis Ford Coppola for the role of Fredo Corleone in The Godfather.

The Godfather, released in 1972, marked Cazale's feature film debut. Coppola, impressed by his work in the role of the weak-willed Fredo Corleone, wrote the part of Stan specifically for him in The Conversation, released in 1974, in which Cazale co-starred with Gene Hackman. Also in 1974, he reprised the significantly expanded role of Fredo in The Godfather Part II. The following year, he again appeared alongside Pacino in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, playing Sal. His performance earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Each of the five films in which Cazale appeared received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Throughout his film career, Cazale maintained an active presence in the theater. In May 1975, he returned to the Charles Playhouse in Boston to appear with Pacino in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. In 1976, the two appeared together for the final time in the Public Theater's production of The Local Stigmatic. That same summer, Cazale starred as Angelo in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park alongside Sam Waterston, with Meryl Streep, a recent Yale School of Drama graduate, as his leading lady. During the production, Cazale and Streep began a romantic relationship and moved in together.

Cazale's sole Broadway credit came on April 29, 1977, when he appeared in the title role of Agamemnon at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. He performed only in the first preview before falling ill and withdrawing from the production. Shortly afterward, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite the terminal diagnosis, he chose to complete his role in The Deer Hunter alongside Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage. Director Michael Cimino rearranged the shooting schedule so that Cazale's scenes could be filmed first. John Cazale died in New York City on March 13, 1978, at the age of 42, shortly after filming on The Deer Hunter was completed. Archive footage of his performance as Fredo Corleone was later incorporated into The Godfather Part III in 1990. A documentary tribute, I Knew It Was You, was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and featured interviews with Pacino, Streep, De Niro, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Coppola, Lumet, and Steve Buscemi.