James Caan rose to success on the strength of his riveting performance in "The Godfather." He was born on March 26th, 1939 in the Bronx, New York and decided to pursue acting when while in college. In 1960 he was accepted into the Neighborhood Playhouse by Sanford Meisner.

Caan made his off-Broadway debut in "I Roam" and hit Broadway with a part in "Mandingo. However, he quit after just four performances because of difficulties with the star, Franchot Tone. He went on to Television where he became a busy character actor.

After a series of mediocre castings, he shot to fame thanks to a poignant performance in the television movie "Brian's Song" in 1970. Two years later he was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece "The God Father." The role solidified his stardom and earned him an Academy Award nomination. He followed up with a string of movies that failed to live up to his previous victories. Although, in 1974, he did receive a Golden Globe bid for his work in "The Gambler" and had another hit with Barbara Streisand in "Funny Lady" and with "Roller Ball" in 1975.

Caan's career had taken a downward turn and apart from a few cameo appearances was largely absent from the screen for some time. He also made a few grave career mistakes by turning down roles in such hits as ""One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Superman" and "Karamer vs. Kramer." He then tried his hand at directing in the 1980's with "Hide in Plain Sight," unfortunately it didn't do very well at the box office either.

After a five year hiatus from acting, Caan finally returned to the screen in Coppola's war drama "Gardens of Stone"and the next year in the sci-fi picture "Alien Nation which hit it big at the box office. In 1990 he stared in Rob Reiner's Oscar winner "Misery." He followed up with supporting roles that showcased his smart, edgy persona in such films as "Honeymoon in Vegas" (1992), and "Eraser" (1996). You can currently catch him in the recent video release gangster movie "Mickey Blue Eyes."