James Caan  James Edmund Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American actor. After early roles in "The Glory Guys" (1965), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, "El Dorado" (1967), and "The Rain People" (1969), he came to prominence in the 1970s with significant roles in films such as "Brian's Song" (1971), "Cinderella Liberty" (1973), "The Gambler" (1974), "Freebie and the Bean" (1974), "Rollerball" (1975), "Funny Lady" (1975), "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) and "Chapter Two" (1979). For his signature role in "The Godfather" (1972), that of hot-tempered Sonny Corleone, Caan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe. Caan's subsequent notable performances include roles in "The Godfather Part II" (1974), "Thief" (1981), "Misery" (1990), "For the Boys" (1991), "Eraser" (1996), "Bottle Rocket" (1996) and "Elf" (2003), as well as the role of "Big Ed" Deline in the television series "Las Vegas" (2003–08). He also prominently lent his voice to "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (2009) and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" (2013). For his contributions to the film industry, Caan was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978 with a motion pictures star located at 6648 Hollywood Boulevard. Caan was born on March 26, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, the son of Sophie (née Falkenstein; June 24, 1915 – January 18, 2016) and Arthur Caan (1909–1986), Jewish immigrants from Germany. His father was a meat dealer and butcher. One of three siblings, Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens. 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 Francis Ford Coppola and Lainie Kazan. 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, where he studied for five years; one of his instructors was Sanford Meisner.