John Cazale in The Deer Hunter

Up until his death, John Cazale was batting a thousand: He appeared back-to-back in five major films, all of them cinematic masterpieces. It is perhaps a streak unmatched before or since. Starring in The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, The Conversation, and The Deer Hunter, Cazale proved himself a simultaneously subtle, but forceful character actor. Al Pacino once said, "All I wanted to do was work with John for the rest of my life." Diagnosed with cancer before filming began on The Deer Hunter, in which he starred alongside then-fiancee Meryl Streep, Cazale died March 12, 1978 at the age of 42.

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