John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as an actor on television and in film, Cassavetes also became a pioneer of American independent cinema, writing and directing movies financed in part with income from his acting work. AllMovie called him "an iconoclastic maverick," while The New Yorker suggested that he "may be the most influential American director of the last half century."
As an actor, Cassavetes starred in notable Hollywood films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Edge of the City (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Rosemary's Baby (1968). He began his directing career with the 1959 independent feature Shadows and followed with independent productions such as Faces (1968), Husbands (1970), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977), and Love Streams (1984), in addition to intermittent studio work.
Cassavetes' films employed an actor-centered approach which privileged character examination over traditional Hollywood storytelling or stylized production values. His films became associated with an improvisational, cinéma vérité aesthetic. He collaborated frequently with a rotating group of friends, crew members, and actors, including his wife Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and Seymour Cassel.
For his role in The Dirty Dozen, Cassavetes received a Best Supporting Actor nomination. As a filmmaker, he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Faces (1968) and Best Director for A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
| Known For | Directing |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 1.859 |
| Birthday | 1929-12-09 |
| Place of Birth | New York City, New York, USA |
| Also Known As | John Nicholas Cassavetes, |
1967
The Dirty Dozen
7.597/1345
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. Th...
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The Dirty Dozen
1968
Rosemary's Baby
7.816/4430
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the pur...
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Rosemary's Baby
1976
Two-Minute Warning
6.3/101
A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter...
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Two-Minute Warning
1964
The Killers
6.906/208
A hit man and his partner try to find out why their latest victim, a former race-car driver, did not try to get away.
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The Killers
1981
Whose Life Is It Anyway?
7.049/51
Ken Harrison is an artist that lives to make sculptures. One day he is involved in a car accident, and is paralyzed from his neck down. All he can do...
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Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1978
The Fury
6.304/413
When a devious plot separates CIA agent Peter Sandza from his son, Robin, the distraught father manages to see through the ruse. Taken because of his...
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The Fury
1977
Opening Night
7.6/261
Actress Myrtle Gordon is a functioning alcoholic who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about agin...
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Opening Night
1957
Affair in Havana
5.3/11
While in Havana, a musician gets involved with a crippled man and his beautiful wife... with deadly results.
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Affair in Havana
1957
Edge of the City
7.2/60
A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms th...
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Edge of the City
1971
Minnie and Moskowitz
6.656/106
Depressed and jaded after being dumped by her married boyfriend, aging beauty Minnie Moore wonders if she'll ever find love. After shaggy-haired park...
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Minnie and Moskowitz
1956
Crime in the Streets
6.185/27
A social worker tries to end juvenile crime by getting involved with a street gang.
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Crime in the Streets
1955
The Night Holds Terror
5.523/22
A group of escaped convicts holds a household prisoner as the police close in.
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The Night Holds Terror
1969
Machine Gun McCain
6.1/47
After serving 12 years behind bars for armed robbery, tough guy Hank McCain finds himself the pawn of a ruthless mob runt's rebellion against a high l...
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Machine Gun McCain
1982
Tempest
5.862/47
A sobering mid-life crisis fuels dissatisfaction in Philip Dimitrius, to the extent where the successful architect trades his marriage and career in f...
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Tempest
1975
Capone
5.9/105
Young Al Capone catches the eye of Johnny Torrio, a criminal visiting New York from Chicago. Torrio invites Capone to move to Illinois to help run his...
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Capone
1970
Husbands
6.724/165
A common friend's sudden death brings three men, married with children, to reconsider their lives and ultimately leave the country together. But mindl...
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Husbands
1984
Love Streams
7.252/147
Two closely-bound, emotionally wounded siblings reunite after years apart.
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Love Streams
1978
Brass Target
5.425/40
General George S. Patton died in a car accident in 1945. But was his death actually a murder. Is he targeted by Nazis angered by Germany's defeat? Or...
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Brass Target
1967
Devil's Angels
5.538/13
A gang of outlaw bikers strike a bargain with the Sheriff of a small beach town; let them stay and the town is safe. But a local girl strays into thei...
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Devil's Angels
1993
Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes
0/0
Get the scoop on the legendary actor-director-New Yorker John Cassavetes straight from the mouth of his friend, peer and co-star Peter Falk (Columbo)...
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Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes
1958
Saddle the Wind
6.7/35
Steve Sinclair is a world-weary former gunslinger, now living as a peaceful farmer. Things go wrong when his wild younger brother Tony arrives on the...
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Saddle the Wind
1976
Mikey and Nicky
6.926/204
Nick is desperate, holed up in a cheap hotel, suffering from an ulcer and convinced that a local mob boss wants him killed. Terrified, he calls Mikey,...
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Mikey and Nicky
1982
Incubus
5.609/119
In a small town in Wisconsin, a young teenage boy claims he has dreams of young women being brutally raped and murdered. A doctor and the local sherif...
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Incubus
1993
Anything for John
7.333/3
An intimate portrait of actor-writer-director John Cassavetes and a loving tribute to his genius for studying and depicting the human character. In-de...
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Anything for John
2008
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
6.292/77
Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.
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Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
1985
Marvin & Tige
5.111/9
Marvin, a heavy-drinking widower meets Tige, an 11-year-old orphan. With nowhere else to go, Tige moves in with Marvin and they develop a close friend...
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Marvin & Tige
1959
Virgin Island
6.333/3
A British woman marries an American writer in spite of her family's disapproval and goes to live with him on a tropical island.
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Virgin Island
1971
The Making of 'Husbands'
0/0
A documentary behind the scenes of John Cassavetes' 'Husbands' (1970).
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The Making of 'Husbands'
1968
Alexander The Great
5/5
An historical film that follows the life of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that united all ancient Greek tribes and led them against the vas...
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Alexander The Great
1968
Bandits in Rome
7/3
After professional stickup man Mario Corda is jailed, his young, ambitious partner -- who covets both Corda's life and his wife -- cuts loose, leaving...
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Bandits in Rome
1977
Heroes
6.233/30
A Vietnam veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder breaks out of a VA hospital and goes on a road trip with a sympathetic traveler to fin...
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Heroes
1953
Taxi
6.786/7
A New York cab driver helps an Irish immigrant with a baby locate her missing husband.
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Taxi
1982
The Haircut
7.429/7
A music executive stops in for a 15 minute haircut.
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The Haircut
2006
Operation Dirty Dozen
7.333/3
A short film looking behind the scenes at the making of The Dirty Dozen. Showing many scenes being filmed just north of London, the short focuses most...
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Operation Dirty Dozen
1979
Flesh & Blood
5.857/7
A young street-tough-turned-boxer struggles to reach the top while finding his romance with an attractive TV reporter is complicated by an incestuous...
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Flesh & Blood
1960
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
6/1
A look at the past, present and future of Hollywood as seen through the eyes of the movie columnist.
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Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1984
Fräulein Berlin
8/1
Berlin Underground-star Ulrike S. went to the Toronto-Filmfestival and then to New York - to find out something about the film business and also about...
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Fräulein Berlin
1985
Nederland C
4/1
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Nederland C
1988
Movies Are My Life
6.75/4
The very first full-length documentary on Scorsese offers an invaluable look at how he was perceived by his colleagues, and himself, in 1977. Catching...
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Movies Are My Life
1984
I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work
8.333/6
Filmmaker Michael Ventura follows Cassavetes around as the actor/director labors on his final film, Love Streams.
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I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work
1989
Arena - John Cassavetes
0/0
Tribute to actor and director John Cassavetes who died in February 1989. Friends, associates and fellow directors remember the man and his work.
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Arena - John Cassavetes
2000
A Constant Forge
6.833/15
One of the great mavericks of cinema, John Cassavetes has earned a reputation as the godfather of American independent movies. The actor-turned-filmma...
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A Constant Forge
2019
Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
7.2/5
An intimate portrait of the superb actress Gena Rowlands, icon of independent cinema. Together with her husband, legendary director John Cassavetes (1...
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Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
1962
The Webster Boy
10/1
A gambler comes out of prison, returns to his old-flame, and finds that she has a teenage son, who begins to believe that the ex-con is his father.
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The Webster Boy
1956
No Right to Kill
0/0
This is a special series of lost classic programs from the Golden Age of TV. The series has been restored by SabuCat Productions from the best archiva...
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No Right to Kill
2021
150 Miles of Rotting, Rutted, Lumpy, Dilapidated Pavement
0/0
A Woman Watches People.
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150 Miles of Rotting, Rutted, Lumpy, Dilapidated Pavement
1969
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
5.905/37
A group of travelers from the United States race through seven European countries in 18 days.
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If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
1973
Nightside
10/1
The story of three people - a press agent, a private detective and a nightclub owner - whose careers require them to spend most of the night awake and...
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Nightside
1951
Fourteen Hours
7.255/53
A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to make his girlfriend happy, rises on the ledge of...
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Fourteen Hours
1960
Shadows
6.919/273
The relationship between Lelia, a light-skinned black woman, and Tony, a white man is put in jeopardy when Tony meets Lelia’s darker-skinned jazz sing...
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Shadows
2024
John Cassavetes par Thierry Jousse
0/0
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John Cassavetes par Thierry Jousse
2014
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
7.2/179
A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yor...
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Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2019
Peter Falk versus Columbo
7.2/13
For millions of viewers, Peter Falk is Columbo. Despite playing the quintessential blue-collar TV detective of the '70s and '80s, his early career is...
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