John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929–February 3, 1989) was a Greek American actor, screenwriter, and director. He is considered a pioneer of American independent film. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... Cemetery view looking South-East. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Look up director in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A film producer creates the conditions for making movies. ... Look up editor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... See also: 1950 in film 1951 1952 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film Events Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati Top grossing films North America David and Bathsheba Show Boat tie The Great Caruso and An... // Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson Rambo: First Blood Part II, starring Sylvester Stallone Rocky IV, starring Sylvester Stallone The Color Purple, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Adolph Caesar Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and... Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress. ... Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes (born May 21, 1959) is an American actor, writer and director. ... Alexandra Cassavetes (born September 21, 1965), nickname Xan, is an American actress and director. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... For the rap group, see D12. ... // The Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. ... Faces was a 1968 movie, directed by John Cassavetes and starring talented actresses, Gena Rowlands (his wife) and Lynn Carlin, who received one of the two Oscar nominations that the film garnered for her supporting role as Maria. The movie, shot in cinéma vérité-style, concerned the gradual... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. ... A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is a film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... The Golden Lion (it: Leone dOro) is the name of the highest prize given to a film at the Biennale Venice Film Festival. ... Gloria is a 1980 film which tells the story of a gangsters girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. ... One of the A festivals in Europe. ... Love Streams is John Cassavetes eleventh film, based on the play by Ted Allan and Cassavetes (though the actual amount of correlation between the play and the film script is minimal). ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... A Greek-American is a citizen of the United States who has significant Greek heritage. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Screenwriters, scenarists, or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... An independent film, or indie film, is usually a low-budget film that is produced by a small movie studio. ...

Life and work

Cassavetes was born in New York City to Nicholas John Cassavetes and Katherine Demetri (who was to feature in some of his films), Greek immigrants to the U.S. His early years were spent with his family in Greece; when he returned, at the age of seven, he spoke no English. ^[1] He grew up in Long Island, New York and attended high school at Blair Academy in New Jersey before moving to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. On graduation in 1950, he continued acting in the theater, took small parts in films, and began working on television in anthology series such as Alcoa Theatre. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about Long Island in New York State. ... Blair Academy is a private, coeducational, secondary Boarding high school with an enrollment of about 430 students for grades nine through twelve. ... The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with campuses located at 120 Madison Avenue in New York City (in a landmark building designed by famed architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club) and 1336 North La Brea Avenue in Hollywood (in a... Alcoa Theatre was a half-hour anthology series that was broadcast at 9:30pm on alternate Monday nights by NBC from October 7, 1957 through September 19, 1960. ...

Early films and acting

During this time he met and married actress Gena Rowlands. By 1956, Cassavetes had begun teaching method acting in workshops in New York City. An improvisation exercise in one workshop inspired the idea for his writing and directorial debut, Shadows (1959). Cassavetes raised the funds for production from friends and family, as well as listeners to Jean Shepherd's late-night radio talk show "Night People". Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress. ... Method acting is an acting technique in which actors try to replicate real life emotional conditions under which the character operates, in an effort to create a life-like, realistic performance. ... Improvisation is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. ... Shadows is a 1959 improvisational film about interracial relations during the Beat Generation. ... Jean Shepherd posed as Frederick R. Ewing on the back cover of Ballantines I, Libertine (1956). ...

Cassavetes was unable to get American distributors to carry Shadows, so he took it to Europe, where it won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival. European distributors later released the movie in the United States as an import. The Venice Film Festival ( ) is the oldest film festival in the world. ...

Although the viewer ship of Shadows in the United States was slight, it did gain attention from the Hollywood studios. Cassavetes directed two movies for Hollywood in the early 1960s — Too Late Blues and A Child is Waiting. Too Late Blues is a 1962 John Cassavetes film that stars Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, Vince Edwards, Seymour Cassel, and Everette Chambers. ...

He also played Johnny Staccato in a late 50s television series about a jazz pianist who also worked as a detective. It was screened on NBC between September 1959 and March 1960, when it was acquired by ABC. Although critically acclaimed the series was finally canceled September 1960. Johnny Staccato, played by John Cassavetes, is a jazz pianist/private detective. ... This article is about the television network. ... This article is about the American broadcast network. ...

He performed as an actor in films such as The Dirty Dozen (1967), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as a high strung army private, and in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968) as a two-faced actor. Other notable appearances include the role of the victim in Don Siegel's The Killers, and as a vicious government nemesis to Kirk Douglas in The Fury (1978). For the rap group, see D12. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... Roman Polanski (born August 18, 1933) is an Academy Award-winning film director, writer, actor, and producer. ... Rosemarys Baby is an Academy Award-winning 1968 horror film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow. ... Don Siegel (October 26, 1912 - April 20, 1991) was an influential American film director. ... The Killers, sometimes called Ernest Hemingways The Killers, released by Universal Studios in 1964, was Hollywoods second adaptation of the Hemingway short story. ... The Fury is a 1978 sci-fi/horror/thriller film directed by Brian de Palma. ...

His next film as a director (and his second independent film) was Faces, starring his wife Rowlands as well as John Marley, Seymour Cassel and Val Avery. It depicts a contemporary marriage in slow disintegration. Faces was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress). Faces was a 1968 movie, directed by John Cassavetes and starring talented actresses, Gena Rowlands (his wife) and Lynn Carlin, who received one of the two Oscar nominations that the film garnered for her supporting role as Maria. The movie, shot in cinéma vérité-style, concerned the gradual... John Marley (October 17, 1907 – May 22, 1984) was an American actor who is best known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in Love Story and as Jack Woltz - who receives a horses head in his bed - in The Godfather. ... Seymour Joseph Cassel (born January 22, 1935 or 1937[1]) is an Academy Award-nominated American character actor. ... Val Avery is an American character actor who has added heft to hundreds of movies and television shows since the 50s. ... // The Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...

Husbands (1970) stars Cassavetes himself with Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara. They play a trio of married men on a spree in New York and London after the funeral of one of their best friends. Minnie and Moskowitz, about two unlikely lovers, has Rowlands with Seymour Cassel. He would play opposite Peter Falk again in 1972, in the Columbo film "Etude in Black," playing the pianist and murderer Alex Benedict. Husbands is a 1970 film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... Peter Michael Falk (born September 16, 1927) is an American actor. ... Ben Gazzara (born Biagio Anthony Gazzara on August 28, 1930, in New York City) is an American actor in television and motion pictures. ... Minnie and Moskowitz is a film by John Cassavetes, starring his wife, Gena Rowlands, and actor Seymour Cassel in the title roles of Minnie and Moskowitz, respectively. ... Seymour Joseph Cassel (born January 22, 1935 or 1937[1]) is an Academy Award-nominated American character actor. ... Columbo is an American crime fiction TV series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. ...

1970s masterpieces

His three masterpieces of the 1970s were produced independently. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) stars Rowlands as an increasingly troubled housewife in an uncomprehending world. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, while Cassavetes was nominated for Best Director. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is a film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to directors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ...

In The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, a small-time strip-club owner with an out-of-control gambling habit, pressured by mobsters to commit a murder to pay off his debt. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a 1976 gangster film directed and written by John Cassavetes and starring Ben Gazzara. ...

Opening Night (1977) has Gena Rowlands as lead actress with Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, and Joan Blondell. Rowlands portrays an aging film star named Myrtle Gordon working in the theater and suffering a personal crisis. Alone and unloved by her colleagues, in fear of age and always at a remove from others on account of her stardom, she succumbs to alcohol and hallucinations after witnessing the accidental death of a young fan. Ultimately she fights through this, delivering the performance of her life in a play. According to Laurence Gavron, Cassavetes worked on the screenplay for several years, refining and altering it. The production cost more than 1.5 million dollars and took more than one year to complete. The first cut was over five hours long, and only one copy of the final version was released in the United States. Opening Night is the first performance of a stage show to the public. ... Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress. ... Ben Gazzara (born Biagio Anthony Gazzara on August 28, 1930, in New York City) is an American actor in television and motion pictures. ... Blondell in Nightmare Alley (1947) Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 - December 25, 1979) was an Oscar-nominated American actress. ...

Late career

Cassavetes directed the film Gloria (1980) starring Rowlands as a mob moll who runs off with a young boy orphaned by the mob and soon to be next. Again Rowlands earned an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. Love Streams (1984) featured Cassavetes as an aging swain who suffers the overbearing affection of his recently divorced sister. Cassavetes's last film, Big Trouble (1986), was taken over during filming from Andrew Bergman, who wrote the original screenplay. Gloria is a 1980 film which tells the story of a gangsters girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. ... Love Streams is John Cassavetes eleventh film, based on the play by Ted Allan and Cassavetes (though the actual amount of correlation between the play and the film script is minimal). ...

Cassavetes died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1989 at the age of 59. He was survived by Rowlands and three children (Nick, Alexandra and Zoe). Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrotic scar tissue as well as regenerative nodules, leading to progressive loss of liver function. ... For the bird, see Liver bird. ...

His son, Nick Cassavetes, followed in his father's footsteps as an actor (Face/Off, Life) and director, and made 1997's significant She's So Lovely from the elder Cassavetes's screenplay; he also directed John Q. Nick directed 2004's The Notebook which also starred Rowlands. Alexandra Cassavetes directed the documentary, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession in 2004 and served as 2nd Unit Director on her brother's Alpha Dog in 2006. And his youngest daughter, Zoe Cassavetes both wrote and directed the 2007 film, Broken English featuring Rowlands and Parker Posey. Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes (born May 21, 1959) is an American actor, writer and director. ... John Q is a 2002 movie starring Denzel Washington as John Quincy Archibald, a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because insurance wont cover it. ... The Notebook is a 1996 American romantic novel by Nicholas Sparks that was later adapted into a popular romantic film by the same name in 2004. ... Alexandra Cassavetes (born September 21, 1965), nickname Xan, is an American actress and director. ... For the term relating to dog behavior, see Alpha (biology). ... Broken English is an album by Marianne Faithfull, released in 1979. ... For the African-American television actress, see Parker McKenna Posey. ...

Improvisation

The role of improvisation in Cassavetes' films is frequently misunderstood. His films were — with the exception of the original version of Shadows — heavily scripted. Confusion arises in part because Cassavetes allowed actors to bring their own interpretations of characters to their performances. Performances were scripted, but delivery was not. Cassavetes was also willing to revise the script if he saw an actor taking a character in a different direction. ^{[citation needed]}

Tributes

In September 2004, The Criterion Collection produced a Region 1 DVD box set of his five independent films: Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under The Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. Also featured in the set is a documentary about the life and works of Cassavetes called A Constant Forge along with a booklet featuring critical assessments of the director's work, along with tributes by old friends. In 2005, a box set of the same five films was released in Region 2 by Optimum Releasing. The Optimum DVD of Shadows has a voice-over commentary by Seymour Cassel that has numerous mistakes about the first and second versions of the film, which are documented on Ray Carney's web site. The Criterion Collection logo The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes authoritative consumer versions of important classic and contemporary films on DVD. It was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Janus Films and the Voyager Company. ... The following is an excerpt of the article entitled DVD. For the sake of convenience, the terms Region 0, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 redirect to this page. ... The following is an excerpt of the article entitled DVD. For the sake of convenience, the terms Region 0, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 redirect to this page. ...

Cassavetes is also the subject of several books about the actor/filmmakers life. Cassavetes on Cassavetes is a collection of interviews collected or conducted by Carney, in which the late filmmaker recalls his experiences, influences and outlook in the film industry. In the Oscar 2005 edition of Vanity Fair magazine, one of the articles features a tribute to Cassavetes with three members of his stock company: Rowlands, and actors Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk. Ray Carney, also known as Raymond Carney, is an American interdisciplinary arts scholar primarily known for his work as a film theorist. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... American actress Demi Moore, on a typical Vanity Fair cover (August, 1991) Vanity Fair is a glossy American glamour magazine monthly that offers a mixture of articles based on sensational exaggerations, jet-set and entertainment-business personalities, politics, and lies. ... Ben Gazzara (born Biagio Anthony Gazzara on August 28, 1930, in New York City) is an American actor in television and motion pictures. ... Peter Michael Falk (born September 16, 1927) is an American actor. ...

In the Robert Crais book Stalking the Angel the main character Elvis Cole is noted to look like John Cassavettes '20 years ago'. He also uses the name Johhny Staccato when giving his details to an apartment guard. Elvis Cole is a fictional character in a series of Robert Crais detective novels. ...

Washington D.C. band Fugazi recorded a tribute on 1993 record 'In on the Killtaker' called "Cassavetes". Jem Cohen's film about the band, 'Instrument' is dedicated to Cassavettes, as well as D. Boon of the 1980s punk rock band the Minutemen. The band Le Tigre released 'What's Yr Take On Cassavetes?', an ambiguously critical song ("Genius? Misogynist? Alcoholic? Messiah?"), on their 1999 eponymous debut album. Fugazi may refer to: an Italian slang term for something that is fake/not authentic. ... Jem A. Cohen (born 1962, Kabul, Afghanistan) is a New York City-based filmmaker known for his observational portraits of urban landscapes, blending of media formats (16mm, Super 8, video) and collaborations with music artists. ... The Minutemen were a punk rock band from San Pedro, California comprising singer/guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley. ... Le Tigre (album) Le Tigre (shirt) Le Tigre is a feminist electro post-punk band formed in 1998 by Kathleen Hanna. ...

On the album 'The Gap'(2000) by Chicago band Joan of Arc, there is a song titled "John Cassavetes, Assata Shakur, And Guy Debord Walk Into A Bar.." Assata Shakur[1] (born July 16, 1947, as Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard[2]) is an African-American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. ... Guy Ernest Debord (December 28, 1931, in Paris – November 30, 1994, in Champot) was a writer, film maker, hypergraphist and founding member of the groups Lettrist International and Situationist International (SI). ...

The band Le Tigre has a song "What's Ya Take On Cassavetes" in which the singers discuss John Cassavetes' influence and definition. Le Tigre (album) Le Tigre (shirt) Le Tigre is a feminist electro post-punk band formed in 1998 by Kathleen Hanna. ...

The season finale of Moral Orel entitled "Nature, Part 2" on July 15, 2007 was dedicated to John Cassavetes. Moral Orel is a stop-motion animated television show currently airing on Adult Swim. ...

Elaine May's 'Mikey and Nicky' (1976), featuring Falk and Cassavetes, was an overt homage to Cassavetes in cultural / thematic scope, cinematography, and the improvisational nature of the acting.

Selected filmography

As Director

Shadows is a 1959 improvisational film about interracial relations during the Beat Generation. ... Too Late Blues is a 1962 John Cassavetes film that stars Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, Vince Edwards, Seymour Cassel, and Everette Chambers. ... Category: ... Faces was a 1968 movie, directed by John Cassavetes and starring talented actresses, Gena Rowlands (his wife) and Lynn Carlin, who received one of the two Oscar nominations that the film garnered for her supporting role as Maria. The movie, shot in cinéma vérité-style, concerned the gradual... Husbands is a 1970 film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... Minnie and Moskowitz is a film by John Cassavetes, starring his wife, Gena Rowlands, and actor Seymour Cassel in the title roles of Minnie and Moskowitz, respectively. ... A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is a film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a 1976 gangster film directed and written by John Cassavetes and starring Ben Gazzara. ... Opening Night is the first performance of a stage show to the public. ... Gloria is a 1980 film which tells the story of a gangsters girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. ... Love Streams is John Cassavetes eleventh film, based on the play by Ted Allan and Cassavetes (though the actual amount of correlation between the play and the film script is minimal). ...

As Actor

The Killers, sometimes called Ernest Hemingways The Killers, released by Universal Studios in 1964, was Hollywoods second adaptation of the Hemingway short story. ... For the rap group, see D12. ... Rosemarys Baby is an Academy Award-winning 1968 horror film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow. ... Husbands is a 1970 film written and directed by John Cassavetes. ... Theatrical release poster. ... Mikey and Nicky is a 1976 film written and directed by Elaine May. ... Brass Target is a 1978 American war film, based on the novel The Algonquin Project by Frederick Nolan and directed by John Hough. ... The Fury is a 1978 sci-fi/horror/thriller film directed by Brian de Palma. ... The play Whose Life Is It Anyway by Brian Clark (playwright) was written as a television play in 1972. ... The Incubus is a 1981 horror film directed by John Hough. ... Tempest is a Columbia Pictures 1982 film which was directed by Paul Mazursky. ...

References

1. ^ Cf. Cassavetes Directs, by Michael Ventura, 2007; ISBN 10: 1-84243-228-1; p. 176.

External links

• John Cassavetes at the Internet Movie Database
• Ray Carney: John Cassavetes
• Reviews
• Essay: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
• Senses of Cinema essay
• kamera.co.uk: John Cassavetes
• Bright Lights Film Journal: John Cassavetes
• Interview (07/1971)
• Essay on Cassavetes' first film, Shadows
• JohnCassavetes.net