James Caan, ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Elf’ and ‘Misery’ star, dead at 82

nypost.com:

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 Brando “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.