John Cassavetes
Primarily known as an actor early in his career, John Cassavetes would later be regarded as one of the most daring and influential filmmakers of the 20th Century, attributed by many as the artist who shaped the current definition of independent film. As a young performer, Cassavetes found his early roles in mainstream productions like "Edge of the City" (1957) creatively unsatisfying. Determined to prove he could do better, he embarked on a three-year odyssey that yielded his debut as a writer-director - the racial identity drama "Shadows" (1959). Though not a commercial hit, "Shadows" earned Cassavetes enough critical acclaim to attract Hollywood, although the resulting films left him chafing under the control of the studio system. In response, Cassavetes created a system of his own - one in which he would act in major productions like "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) and "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) in order to fund independent endeavors of his own. Over the course of the next 15 years Cassavetes wrote, directed and occasionally performed in such thought-provoking works as "Faces" (1968), "Husbands" (1970), "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971), "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974), "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976), "Gloria" (1980) and "Love Streams" (1984). Each film featured some combination of his frequent acting collaborators, including wife Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and Seymour Cassel. While professional acting was a mere means to an end, Cassavetes pursued his own artistic truth and provided audiences with new experiences through his deeply personal films.
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John Cassavetes
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
66% |
|
She's So Lovely | Writer | $7.3M | 1997 |
100% |
|
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies | Himself (archive footage) (Character) | - | 1995 |
14% |
|
Big Trouble | Director | - | 1986 |
100% |
|
Love Streams |
Robert Harmon (Character), Director, Writer |
- | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Marvin and Tige | Marvin Stewart (Character) | - | 1983 |
17% |
|
The Incubus | Dr. Sam Cordell (Character) | - | 1982 |
55% |
|
Tempest | Phillip Dimitrius (Character) | - | 1982 |
70% |
|
Whose Life Is It Anyway? | Dr. Michael Emerson (Character) | - | 1981 |
91% |
|
Gloria |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Flesh and Blood | Gus Caputo (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
Brass Target | Maj. Joe De Lucca (Character) | - | 1978 |
80% |
|
The Fury | Ben Childress (Character) | - | 1978 |
96% |
|
Opening Night |
Maurice Aarons (Character), Director, Writer |
$10.5K | 1977 |
79% |
|
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie |
Director, Writer |
- | 1976 |
29% |
|
Two Minute Warning | Sgt. Button (Character) | - | 1976 |
88% |
|
Mikey and Nicky | Nicky Godalin (Character) | - | 1976 |
89% |
|
A Woman Under the Influence | Director | - | 1974 |
82% |
|
Minnie and Moskowitz |
Jim (uncredited) (Character), Director, Writer |
- | 1971 |
68% |
|
Husbands |
Gus (Character), Director, Writer |
- | 1970 |
80% |
|
Machine Gun McCain | Hank McCain (Character) | - | 1969 |
85% |
|
Faces |
Director, Writer, Producer, Film Editing |
- | 1968 |
97% |
|
Rosemary's Baby | Guy Woodhouse (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rome Like Chicago | Mario Corda (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet |
|
Devil's Angels | Cody (Character) | - | 1967 |
82% |
|
The Dirty Dozen | Victor Franko (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet |
|
Alexander the Great | Karonos (Character) | - | 1964 |
80% |
|
The Killers | Johnny North (Character) | - | 1964 |
92% |
|
A Child Is Waiting | Director | - | 1963 |
82% |
|
Too Late Blues |
Director, Writer, Producer |
- | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Webster Boy | Vance Miller (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Virgin Island | Evan (Character) | - | 1959 |
100% |
|
Shadows |
Director, Writer, Film Editing |
- | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
Saddle the Wind | Tony Sinclair (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
Edge of the City | Axel Nordmann (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Affair in Havana | Nick (Character) | - | 1957 |
100% |
|
Crime in the Streets | Frankie Dane (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Night Holds Terror | Robert Batsford (Character) | - | 1955 |
63% |
|
Fourteen Hours | Bit Part (uncredited) (Character) | - | 1951 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 80% | Columbo | Alex Benedict (Guest Star) | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Virginian | Jonah MacIntosh (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Combat! | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lloyd Bridges Show |
Castigo (Guest Star), Director |
1962-1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dr. Kildare | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rawhide | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Johnny Staccato |
Unknown (Character), Director |
1959-1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Studio One | Private Paul Greco (Character) | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The 20th Century-Fox Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1956 |
No Score Yet | 87% | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Sam Cobbett (Character) | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The United States Steel Hour | Johnny (Character) | 1956 |