Death of Seymour Cassel: the familiar face of John Cassavetes Films was 84



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He has been nominated for Oscars for "Faces", from Moskowitz to Minnie of Gena Rowlands, and has appeared in three films by Wes Anderson.

Seymour Cassel, the Oscar-nominated regular player of John Cassavetes, whose clever glow, aged appearance and versatile talent that makes him an admired character actor, has passed away. He was 84 years old.

Kassel died Sunday in Los Angeles as a result of Alzheimer's disease, said his son Matt at The Hollywood Reporter.

Cassel was also a favorite of Wes Anderson, who threw the irascible actor into Rushmore (1998) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Aquatic life with Steve Zissou (2004).

Cassel teamed up for the first time with Cassavetes during the creation of improvisation shading (1959). In his debut as a director, Cassavetes began as an unpaid team member, but was awarded an uncredited role on the screen – and then an associate producer credit – by the future independent film icon.

Cassel received his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the hippie swinger Chet in Cassavetes faces (1968), then marveled at the role of Seymour Moskowitz, parking attendant in free spirit and pony Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), which Cassavetes directed and wrote especially for his wife, Gena Rowlands, and his boyfriend.

Cassavetes also realized Cassel in Too late blues (1961) The murder of a Chinese bookmaker (1976) Opening night (1977) and Love Streams (1984) and on a 1962 episode The Lloyd Bridges Show. The couple also acted together in The Webster Boy (1962) and Don Siegel & # 39; s The killers (1964), on Burke's law in 1964 and on a 1973 ABC movie, At the edge of the night.

Cassavetes, who died of liver disease in 1989, at the age of 59, was "the oldest brother I have ever had and the closest friend that I have. I've never had, "Cassel told Terry Gross in an interview with NPR in 2006. "He has been extremely influential in creating my career and has guided me."

At the other end of the Hollywood spectrum, Cassel interpreted Robert Redford's driver, Mr. Shackleford, in the glamorous film Paramount Romance Indecent Proposal (1993) and appears as the cop Sam Catchem in Warren Beatty Dick Tracy (1990).

Meanwhile, Steve Buscemi hired Cassel for Tree show (1996) Pet Shop (2000) and Lonesome Jim (2005) after collaborating for the first time in Sundance's success In the soup (1992) – for which the Detroit native won a special jury prize for his interpretation as a crook.

Throughout his career, Cassel has invigorated young and old, giving them a supernatural and anti-cultural exuberance.

"The actors of the character can have fun, while the leading men think that they have to be this object.I mean, it's boring," Cassel said. "The pleasure is to fill a part and make it a little crazy, because everyone has a little madness in them anyway."

Cassel was born January 22, 1935 in Detroit. He grew up in New York and lived over a nightclub, which his father-in-law told him he had won at the game of craps. (He has never known his real father, a beer salesman in Milwaukee.)

His mother had been a stripper and dancer on the Minsky burlesque circuit, and Cassel had accompanied him in his youth.

"I came on stage when I was about three and a half years old, and I would do the mornings in the little plaid suit with the comics baggy pants," he told Gross. "For me, life on the train then my return to New York [was wonderful]. I was not there yet at school. When I had to go to school, I was not very happy about that. "

At the age of 12, he returned to Detroit to live with his godmother.

After a stint in the US Navy, where he became an accomplished boxer, Cassel briefly studied theater with Stella Adler at Carnegie Hall, where he came upon an advertisement.

"We said" Free Scholarships – John Cassavetes Workshop, Variety Arts Building, "Cassel recalled in the book by David Spaner, 2011. Shoot It !: Hollywood Inc. and the rise of independent film.

"I went there and I said:" I'm looking for one of those scholarships. "John spoke for about an hour then said to me: "I have to go. We are shooting a movie "." I said: "Can I look?" And he said, "Of course."

"I just started helping the cameraman, I worked all night, John took us to breakfast and said," What do you think? " I said, "It's great. Can I come back? "He said," Sure. "And I kept coming back, not only did it improve my knowledge, but I also found the best friend I ever had."

In real life, Cassel moved to Los Angeles in 1961 and made a living with many television roles (Combat!, My three sons, The F.B.I.), often playing marginal characters such as beatniks, hippies and oddballs.

On the two 1967 episodes of Batman who presented respectively Van Williams and Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet and Kato, Cassel played a hired man named Canceled who is employed by Colonel Gumm (Roger C. Carmel).

He also claimed to have been the deputy director of Dennis Hopper on Easy Rider (1969).

Sure facesComposed at $ 40,000, Cassel again served as an actor and crew member (he was one of seven members of the crew). "This way of making a movie was so much fun," he told IndieWire in 1997. "No unions to manage, no schedule." We shot in continuity, what John did with each film by he did it himself, and he did it for the actors. "

Cassel also wrote songs for a Whiskey scene at Go-Go, he told NPR, "because we did not have money for the music." John knew I could do it. . [that] because I did it since the 1950s ".

He then played with Jon Voight and Robert Duvall in The revolutionary (1970).

Due to his drug and alcohol use, Cassel was beaten to death in 1981 when he was sentenced to six months in prison in 1981 for possession and intent to distribute cocaine.

"I was crazy," he told Gross. "People would have one foot in the door of Dan Tana's home in Los Angeles and another on the outside. [They would say,] "What will Seymour do now? I have to see him, but I do not want to be here when he does. "

Cassel went into rehab, In the soup provided him with a return vehicle and he remained sober for many years. (C & # 39; was In the soup screenwriter-director Alexandre Rockwell who put him in touch with Anderson.)

The wonderful corpus of Cassel is also included Coogan bluff (1968) The last mogul (1976) Valentino (1977) Californian dream (1979) Tin Men (1987), White Fang (1991) Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) It could happen (1994) 61 * (2001) Stuck to you (2003) Beer League (2006) Reach for me (2008) and Rockwell & # 39; s Pete Smalls is dead (2010).

He had failed to chair the SAG in 2007 and 2009.

Guns' guitarist Roses, Saul Hudson, Matt's friend, congratulated the actor for giving him his nickname (that would be Slash). "Essentially, he said that it was because I was always in a hurry and that I was still conspirator, always agitated," he said.

Matt is a publisher in Hollywood. Survivors also include Lisa and Dilyn, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation of the United States.

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