   james edmund caan (born march 26, 1940) is an american actor. he is best known for his starring roles in the godfather, thief, the gambler, misery, a bridge too far, brian's song, rollerball, kiss me goodbye, and el dorado. he also starred as "big ed" deline in the television series las vegas. as of 2014 he plays terry "the cannon" gannon, sr. in the abc sitcom back in the game. ==early life== caan was born in the bronx, new york, the son of sophie (nÃ©e falkenstein) and arthur caan, jewish immigrants from germany. his father was a meat dealer and butcher.james caan profile at film reference.comstated on inside the actors studio, 2000 one of three siblings, caan grew up in sunnyside, queens, new york city. he was educated in new york city, and later attended michigan state university. he later transferred to hofstra university in hempstead, new york, but did not graduate. his classmates at hofstra included lainie kazan and francis ford coppola. while studying at hofstra university, however, he became intrigued by acting and was interviewed for, accepted to, and graduated from, new york city's neighborhood playhouse school of the theatre. there, one of his instructors was sanford meisner. he studied at the school for five years. ==career== ===1961â1969=== caan began appea
1940_births 20th-century_American_male_actors 21st-century_American_male_actors American_karateka American_male_film_actors American_male_television_actors American_people_of_German-Jewish_descent Jewish_American_male_actors Kohanim Living_people Male_actors_from_New_York_City Michigan_State_University_alumni Neighborhood_Playhouse_School_of_the_Theatre_alumni New_York_Republicans People_from_Queens,_New_York People_from_the_Bronx