An Italian-American, Cazale only made five feature films in his career, all which many fans and critics alike call classics. But before his film debut, the short The American Way he won numerous Obie Awards for his stage performances in "The Indian Wants the Bronx" and "The Line".

Cazale scored the role of Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, after his long time friend, Al Pacino, invited him to audition. He reprised his role as the troubled Fredo in The Godfather: Part II, where his character endures one of the most infamous movie moments in the history of cinema.

Cazale also starred with Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford in the thriller, The Conversation, as Hackman's assistant, Stan. The Godfather's director, Francis Ford Coppola, also directed the movie.

Cazale's fourth feature film, Dog Day Afternoon, earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sal, a bank robber. His long time friend and Godfather co-star, Al Pacino, played his partner, Sonny.

His final film, The Deer Hunter, was filmed whilst he was ill with cancer. He met his co-star, Meryl Streep, whilst filming The Deer Hunter and they became engaged.

Controversy occurred during the filming. While the studio was unaware of his condition, the director, Michael Cimino, knew about it. As Cazale was evidently weak, he was forced to film his scenes first. When the studio discovered he was suffering from bone cancer, they wanted him removed from the film. His co-star and fiancé, Meryl Streep, threatened to quit if he was fired. He died shortly after filming was completed.


Once engaged to Meryl Streep Cazale appeared in only five feature films in his career, and all of them were nominated for Best Picture. Played characters in two movies named Stan (The Deer Hunter (1978), and The Conversation (1974)). Years after his death he appeared in a sixth feature film, The Godfather: Part III (1990) in archive footage. That film, like all of the films Cazale appeared in, was nominated for Best Picture. In spite of the desperate, violent characters he played in a handful of films, he was by all accounts an enormously kind and gentle person off screen, having been a close personal friend of most of the actors he had worked with. Among his greatest achievements was that he helped the discovery of childhood friend Al Pacino, fellow, hungry theater actor Robert De Niro, and his fiancée at the time of his early death, Meryl Streep. Cited as a "Distinguished Performance" by the Off-Broadway Obie Awards for the 1967-68 season for his performance in Israel Horovitz's play "The Indian Wants the Bronx". Three of the five feature-length movies he made also starred Al Pacino: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Unlike most of the casting of the film, Cazale easily won his part as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather (1972). This is thanks in part to a good audition and little competition for the role. Ad-libbed his famous "Wyoming?" line in Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Director Sidney Lumet laughed so hard that he feared he had ruined the take. It wasn't ruined, however, and was used in the final cut. All of his films involved either Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, or Robert De Niro. Or, in the case of the Godfather Part II, all three. Five of John Cazale's six films - The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather, Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter are on the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, and are deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" films. Since 1989, the Library has added 25 films to the registry each year. The Godfather films made the list the first year.