Upon graduation, Cazale worked as a cab driver, as he started his theatrical career at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, appearing in Hotel Paradiso and Our Town in 1959.[2] Reviewing his performance as George Gibbs in Our Town, critic Jean Pierre Frankenhuis said: "[Cazale's] portrayal is absolutely stupendous, hilarious, touching, thrilling. We found ourselves wishing that there were more scenes with him, such is the enjoyable performance he gives: a comedian of the first order!".[11] Cazale moved to New York City and supported himself as a photographer while looking for acting work. He made one of his first appearances there in the Equity Library's production of Sidney Howard's Paths of Glory.[2]
An Off-Broadway production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B. by the Equity Library Theatre followed on March 17, 1962, at the Master Theatre.[12] He also acted in a 1962 short film titled The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman.[13]
The Godfather was Cazale's feature film debut. The film's star, Marlon Brando, was one of Cazale's idols.[citation needed] The film broke box office records and made Cazale and several other previously unknown co-stars famous. Coppola, impressed with Cazale's abilities in the small role, wrote the part of Stan for him in his next film, The Conversation (1974), in which he co-starred with Gene Hackman. In 1974, he reprised his role as Fredo Corleone, now significantly expanded, in The Godfather Part II. Bruce Fretts, in Entertainment Weekly, wrote that "Cazale makes his character’s wounded pride hauntingly palpable".[22]
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
He again starred alongside Pacino in Sidney Lumet's 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. The film's screenwriter Frank Pierson said "the film had been cast with many of the actors that Al Pacino had worked with in New York, including John Cazale, who was a close friend and collaborator in The Godfather".[23] For his role as Sal he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sidney Lumet declared:
One of the things that I love about the casting of John Cazale was that he had a tremendous sadness about him. I don't know where it came from; I don't believe in invading the privacy of the actors that I work with, or getting into their heads. But, my God—it's there—every shot of him. And not just in this movie, but in Godfather II also.[24]
Return to theatre
Public theatre (1975–76)
While achieving success in film, Cazale's commitment to the stage continued. In addition to his work with the Long Wharf Theatre, he appeared in a number of plays by Israel Horovitz. In May 1975, he returned to the Charles Playhouse to support Pacino in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Ross Wetzston of The Village Voice, reporting on the production, said Cazale "may be the finest actor in America today".[25] In 1976, ten years after their first collaboration, Cazale and Pacino appeared together for the final time in the Public Theatre's production of The Local Stigmatic.
Measure for Measure (1976)
In the summer of that year, Cazale starred at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park with Sam Waterston in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. His leading lady was the recent Yale School of Drama graduate Meryl Streep. Mel Gussow of The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Cazale, often cast as a quirky, weak outsider, as in The Godfather, here demonstrates sterner mettle as a quietly imperious Angelo who sweeps down, vulturelike, to deposit virtue."[3] During the run of the play, Cazale and Streep began a romance and moved in together. Streep humorously praised her co-star's abilities by saying, "The jerk made everything mean something." Then she added, "Such good judgment, such uncluttered thought!".[26][27]
Agamemnon (1977)
Cazale's final stage appearance was on April 29, 1977, in the title role of Agamemnon at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. He appeared only in the first preview. After the performance, he took ill and withdrew from the show. It was his only Broadway performance. Shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.[28]
Final film role: The Deer Hunter (1978)
Despite the terminal diagnosis, Cazale continued work with his romantic partner, Meryl Streep, along with Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage in The Deer Hunter. According to author Andy Dougan, director Michael Cimino "rearranged the shooting schedule with Cazale and Streep's consent, so that he could film all his scenes first". He completed his scenes, but died before the film was released.[29] Cazale was considered all but uninsurable due to his illness, jeopardizing his participation in the film, but according to Streep the costs were paid by De Niro, who wanted Cazale to be in it.[30]
Death
Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1977 which was likely related to his history of chain smoking.[1] Despite trying a number of treatments and protocols, he rapidly declined as the cancer metastasized to his bones. On March 13, 1978, Cazale died at the age of 42. Meryl Streep was at his side, as the actress had been throughout his illness. Close friend and Godfather co-star Al Pacino said "I've hardly ever seen a person [Streep] so devoted to someone who is falling away like John was. To see her in that act of love for this man was overwhelming."[15] Pacino later lamented that Cazale was not better recognized for his skill, saying that Cazale "was one of the great actors of our time—that time, any time".[31]
His close friend and frequent collaborator, Israel Horovitz, wrote a eulogy, published in The Village Voice on March 27, 1978. In it, he said:
John Cazale happens once in a lifetime. He was an invention, a small perfection. It is no wonder his friends feel such anger upon waking from their sleep to discover that Cazale sleeps on with kings and counselors, with Booth and Kean, with Jimmy Dean, with Bernhardt, Guitry, and Duse, with Stanislavsky, with Groucho, Benny, and Allen. He will make fast friends in his new place. He is easy to love.[32]
Although Cazale never received an Oscar nomination, according to Bruce Fretts, he "was the walking embodiment of the aphorism, 'acting is reacting', providing the perfect counterbalance to his recurring co-stars, the more emotionally volatile Al Pacino and Robert De Niro".[citation needed] Cazale had learned to put the lack of recognition into context. While filming The Deer Hunter, he said to Pittsburgh Press reporter Edward L. Blank:
If you have any inclination toward paranoia, that sort of thing will bring it out in you. You say to yourself, "What do I have to do to get recognition of that sort?" Then you put it back into perspective and ask yourself how much that or any award really matters.[34]
Cazale was described by those close to him to be "often shy" and "very emotionally sensitive". He collaborated with a number of artists repeatedly: Israel Horovitz dedicated the entire cycle of his "Wakefield Plays" to Cazale's memory, saying he "played in most of my plays, from 67–77, including Alfred the Great and Our Father's Failing".[35] Directors James Hammerstein and Arvin Brown used him multiple times. He did two plays for Joseph Papp. Francis Ford Coppola was responsible for the majority of Cazale's film roles, having cast him three times. Meryl Streep acted with him twice. Close friend and frequent co-star Al Pacino collaborated with him six times: on three films and three stage productions. Pacino once commented: "All I wanted to do was work with John for the rest of my life. He was my acting partner."[15]
In an interview celebrating The Godfather 50th anniversary, when asked about actors that did not get enough credit, Al Pacino said:
John Cazale, in general, was one of the great actors of our time — that time, any time. I learned so much from him. I had done a lot of theater and three films with him. He was inspiring, he just was. And he didn't get credit for any of it. He was in five films, all Oscar-nominated films, and he was great in all of them. He was particularly great in Godfather II and I don't think he got that kind of recognition.[36]
The Boston Globe asked: "Why was Cazale so influential? In part, it was because of his commitment to the craft of acting." To Streep, he was "monomaniacal", which had an effect on his co-stars, who were then "challenged to take their own games up a notch".[38]
Cazale has a theater named after him, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre (currently inhabited by the company Second Stage Theatre), located at 2162 Broadway at 76th Street in New York City. The theatre is co-named for Cazale and his friend, the actor Walter McGinn, who had died in a car accident in 1977. The theatre was dedicated on March 12, 1984.[39]
All five of the films that he starred in would later be selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.[40]
Notes
^n1 Cazale died at approximately 3 a.m. on Monday, March 13, 1978, which is the date on his gravestone and confirmed by his brother, Stephen.[2]: 8 His date of death has been commonly reported as March 12, 1978, due to contemporary newspaper reports referencing his death occurring on "Sunday night".[3]
^ abcdePowers, Jonjo (2015). A Small Perfection: John Cazale and the Art of Acting. foreword by Israel Horovitz. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN978-1515069539.
