James Caan

Biography: A macho leading man best known for his role as the hot-headed Sonny Corleone from The Godfather, Caan seemed to have it all in the early 1970s. After earning raves and an Emmy nomination as a dying football player in the 1971 TV-movie Brian's Song, he made a splash on the big screen the next year in The Godfather and earned an Oscar nod. A string of mostly disappointing features followed (Funny Girl, Gone with the West and Hide in Plain Sight, which he also directed) before Caan suddenly exited the Hollywood scene in 1982. For five years he was MIA, and although rumors about his absence abounded, no one ever figured out the entire story. He returned to the big screen in the Vietnam drama Gardens of Stone (helmed by Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola) and continued to work steadily, sometimes parodying his gangster persona (Honeymoon in Vegas, Mickey Blue Eyes). In 2003, after four decades in showbiz, he took a gamble on series television and hit the jackpot on the popularA macho leading man best known for his role as the hot-headed Sonny Corleone from The Godfather, Caan seemed to have it all in the early 1970s. After earning raves and an Emmy nomination as a dying football player in the 1971 TV-movie Brian's Song, he made a splash on the big screen the next year in The Godfather and earned an Oscar nod. A string of mostly disappointing features followed (Funny Girl, Gone with the West and Hide in Plain Sight, which he also directed) before Caan suddenly exited the Hollywood scene in 1982. For five years he was MIA, and although rumors about his absence abounded, no one ever figured out the entire story. He returned to the big screen in the Vietnam drama Gardens of Stone (helmed by Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola) and continued to work steadily, sometimes parodying his gangster persona (Honeymoon in Vegas, Mickey Blue Eyes). In 2003, after four decades in showbiz, he took a gamble on series television and hit the jackpot on the popular drama Las Vegas. He left the show after its fourth season to pursue big-screen work. In his spare time, Caan practices martial arts and is a sixth-degree black belt.… Expand