John Cazale

While he only made five pictures in his all too brief career, noted supporting actor John Cazale made the most of his brief time on screen before his life was cut short by bone cancer. Having had his start on the stage with notable performances in off-Broadway productions, Cazale was cast by director Francis Ford Coppola to play the weak and ineffectual Fredo Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972). His part was small and less fiery than those of co-stars Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan and Robert Duvall, but Cazale gave everything he had and made his moments count. Coppola cast him again as Gene Hackman's sound assistant in the paranoid thriller "The Conversation" (1974) and expanded Fredo's role significantly for "The Godfather, Par II" (1974). Cazale shined as the traitorous Fredo in the second installment, but really came into his own opposite Pacino in Sidney Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), which marked the best collaboration between the two acting partners. After returning to the stage and falling deeply in love with a then-unknown Meryl Streep, Cazale received a terminal prognosis of bone cancer, which almost jeopardized him being cast in Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" (1978). Cazale's scenes were filmed quickly and died before the film was released, leaving behind a brief legacy that included only five films, but all of which were nominated for Best Picture.