John Cassavetes
Born: 1929-12-09 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: 1989-02-03
Known For: Directing
Biography
John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as an actor on television and in film, Cassavetes also became a pioneer of American independent cinema, writing and directing movies financed in part with income from his acting work. AllMovie called him "an iconoclastic maverick," while The New Yorker suggested that he "may be the most influential American director of the last half century." As an actor, Cassavetes starred in notable Hollywood films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Edge of the City (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Rosemary's Baby (1968). He began his directing career with the 1959 independent feature Shadows and followed with independent productions such as Faces (1968), Husbands (1970), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977), and Love Streams (1984), in addition to intermittent studio work. Cassavetes' films employed an actor-centered approach which privileged character examination over traditional Hollywood storytelling or stylized production values. His films became associated with an improvisational, cinéma vérité aesthetic. He collaborated frequently with a rotating group of friends, crew members, and actors, including his wife Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and Seymour Cassel. For his role in The Dirty Dozen, Cassavetes received a Best Supporting Actor nomination. As a filmmaker, he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Faces (1968) and Best Director for A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Filmography
2025
- Mass State Lottery ... (Thanks)
2021
- 150 Miles of Rotting, Rutted, Lumpy, Dilapidated Pavement as Man Talking
2019
- Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film as Self (archive footage)
2018
- Black Baby as Self (archive footage)
2015
- Iconic Couples of Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
2014
- Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films as Robert Harmon (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Castanha ... (Thanks)
2011
- Before Opening Night ... (Story)
2008
- Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired as Guy Woodhouse (archive footage)
2006
- Operation Dirty Dozen as Self
2000
- A Constant Forge as Self (archive footage)
1999
- Gloria ... (Original Film Writer)
1997
- She's So Lovely ... (Writer)
1993
- Anything for John as Self (archive footage)
- Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes as Self
1989
- Arena - John Cassavetes as Self
1988
- Movies Are My Life as Self
1986
- Big Trouble ... (Director)
1985
- Nederland C as Self - Portrait of the actor / cinematographer
- Marvin & Tige as Marvin
1984
- I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work as Self
- Love Streams as Robert Harmon
- Fräulein Berlin as himself
1982
- Tempest as Phillip
- The Haircut as Music Industry Executive
- Incubus as Dr. Sam Cordell
1981
- Whose Life Is It Anyway? as Dr. Michael Emerson
1980
- Gloria ... (Director)
1979
- Flesh & Blood as Gus Caputo
1978
- Brass Target as Maj. Joe De Lucca
- The Fury as Ben Childress
1977
- Heroes as VA Doctor (uncredited)
- Opening Night as Maurice Aarons
1976
- The Killing of a Chinese Bookie ... (Director)
- Two-Minute Warning as Sgt. Chris Button
- Mikey and Nicky as Nicky
1975
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
- Capone as Frankie Yale
1974
- A Woman Under the Influence ... (Writer)
1973
- Nightside as Carmine Kelly
1971
- Columbo as Alex Benedict
- Minnie and Moskowitz as Jim
- The Making of 'Husbands' as Self
1970
- Husbands as Gus Demetri
1969
- If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium as Steve
- Machine Gun McCain as Hank McCain
- "Cinéastes de notre temps": John Cassavetes
1968
- The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
- Faces ... (Director)
- Rosemary's Baby as Guy Woodhouse
- Bandits in Rome as Mario Corda
- Alexander The Great as Karonos
1967
- The Dirty Dozen as Victor Franko
- Devil's Angels as Cody
1965
- The Legend of Jesse James as Blackie Dolan
1964
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
- The Killers as Johnny North
- Profiles in Courage as Parsons
1963
- Burke's Law as Eddie Dineen
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
- Kraft Suspense Theatre as Peter Chandler
- Channing as Lloyd Sullivan
- A Child Is Waiting ... (Director)
1962
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- The Virginian as Jonah MacIntosh
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Rusty Connors
- Combat! as Kalb
- The Lloyd Bridges Show ... (Director)
- The Webster Boy as Vance Miller
1961
- The Mike Douglas Show as Self
- Dr. Kildare as Makin Saund
- Too Late Blues ... (Writer)
1960
- Shadows as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Hedda Hopper's Hollywood as Self
1959
- Rawhide as Cal Fletcher
- Johnny Staccato as Johnny Staccato
- Virgin Island as Evan
1958
- The Dick Clark Show as Self
- Saddle the Wind as Tony Sinclair
1957
- Edge of the City as Axel Nordmann
- Affair in Havana as Nick Douglas
1956
- No Right to Kill as McCloud
- Crime in the Streets as Frankie Dane
1955
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Sam Cobbett
- The 20th Century Fox Hour as Max Markheim
- The Night Holds Terror as Robert Batsford
1954
- Climax! as Malcolm McCloud
1953
- The United States Steel Hour as Johnny
- Taxi as Man (uncredited)
- General Electric Theater as Johnny
1952
- Omnibus as Pepe
1951
- Fourteen Hours as Reporter (uncredited)
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1948
- The Philco Television Playhouse
- Studio One as Paul Greco
- The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee