Trivia

Cazale appeared in only five feature films in his career, and all of them were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

Was dying of cancer while filming The Deer Hunter (1978) and ultimately passed before the film actually premiered.

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.

Was in a relationship with Meryl Streep at the time of his death.

Friend Al Pacino requested him to audition for the role of Sal in Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Director Sidney Lumet was, however, unsure, with Cazale not being anything like the real-life counterpart (the real Sal was eighteen, while Cazale was in his late thirties). Cazale immediately won over the part with the audition.

Close friend and frequent co-star, Al Pacino, referred to Cazale as his "acting partner", the guy he could've acted with his entire life.

Greatly impressed with his performance in The Godfather (1972), director Francis Ford Coppola wrote a much bigger and central role for Cazale in the sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974).

Many actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell, and Michael Fassbender have all named Cazale as a major influence.

Worked as a messenger, photographer, and taxi driver in his early days as a struggling actor.

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.

Three of the five feature films he appeared in, The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Deer Hunter (1978) won the Oscar for Best Picture. The other two, The Conversation (1974) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975) were nominated. The Godfather Part II and The Conversation were both released in the same year, 1974.

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, actor Robert De Niro, and his girlfriend at the time of his early death, Meryl Streep.

Was friends with Al Pacino when they both were working as messengers in New York in their 20s.

He has appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part II (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and The Deer Hunter (1978). He is the only actor to have every film he appeared in be in the registry.

He and Meryl Streep met during a "Shakespeare in the park" stint, acting in a production of "Measure for Measure".

Despite his acclaim and incredible track record, he only ever received one award nomination for his acting.

Unlike most of the casting of the film, Cazale easily won his part as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather (1972) after being seen in the play 'Line' by producer of the film, Albert S. Ruddy, who was invited to see the play by Cazale's co-star Richard Dreyfuss. He was an obvious choice to both Ruddy and Coppola for Fredo.

Has a theater named after him, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, located at 2162 Broadway at 76th Street, NY, NY above the former Promenade Theatre (now closed) on the fourth floor. The theater sits from 99 to 108 people. The "McGinn" in the theater's title is for actor Walter McGinn.

Of the five films he appeared in, three also featured Robert Duvall, three starred Al Pacino, three were directed by Francis Ford Coppola, two starred Bobby DeNiro, and three won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Of the four actors who played Vito Corleone's children in the Godfather films, he was the only one not nominated for an Oscar for doing so. Al Pacino and James Caan were nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the first film. Al Pacino was nominated again, this time for Best Actor, for the second film, in which Talia Shire was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Every feature film that he starred in would later be selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, a record no other actor in film history has and likely ever will match.

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.

Cited as a "Distinguished Performance" by the Off-Broadway Obie Awards for the 1967-1968 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)

Michael Fassbender names him as one of his greatest inspirations.

He is the only actor whose entire filmography of feature films were all nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Although he played Morgana King and Marlon Brando's son in The Godfather (1972), he was only five and eleven years their junior respectively.

Although he played James Caan's younger brother in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), he was five years his senior in real life.

His father, John Cazale, was of Italian descent. His mother, Cecilia (Holland), was of Irish ancestry.

His father was a wholesale coal salesman and his mother was a homemaker.

Was an avid fan of baseball.

Graduated from the drama school at Boston University.

Was the middle kid of three children.

Played characters named Stan in two movies The Conversation (1974) and The Deer Hunter (1978).

He was of Irish and Italian descent.

Brother of Steve Cazale.