John Cassavetes
Known for: Directing
Born: December 9, 1929
Died: February 3, 1989
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
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).
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Filmography
64 movies · 35 TV shows, newest first
8.0
Mass State Lottery
2025
NR
John Cassavetes par Thierry Jousse
2024
NR
150 Miles of Rotting, Rutted, Lumpy, Dilapidated Pavement
2021
6.8
Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
2019
7.2
Peter Falk versus Columbo
2019
8.0
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
20156.0
Castanha
2014
5.6
Before Opening Night
2011
6.3
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
2008
7.0
Operation Dirty Dozen
2006
6.8
A Constant Forge
2000
5.9
Gloria
1999
5.9
She's So Lovely
1997
NR
Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes
1993
7.3
Anything for John
1993NR
Arena - John Cassavetes
1989
6.8
Movies Are My Life
1988
5.4
Big Trouble
1986
5.1
Marvin & Tige
19854.0
Nederland C
1985
8.3
I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work
1984
7.2
Love Streams
1984
8.0
Fräulein Berlin
1984
7.4
The Haircut
1982
5.9
Tempest
1982
5.6
Incubus
1982
7.0
Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1981
6.9
Gloria
1980
5.9
Flesh & Blood
1979
7.0
Flesh & Blood
1979
5.4
Brass Target
1978
6.3
The Fury
1978
7.6
Opening Night
1977
6.2
Heroes
1977
6.9
Mikey and Nicky
1976
6.3
Two-Minute Warning
1976
7.0
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
1976
5.9
Capone
1975
6.0
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
7.8
A Woman Under the Influence
1974
10.0
Nightside
1973
6.7
Minnie and Moskowitz
1971
8.1
Columbo
1971
NR
The Making of 'Husbands'
1971
6.7
Husbands
1970
5.9
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
1969
6.1
Machine Gun McCain
1969
7.1
Faces
1968
7.0
Bandits in Rome
1968
7.8
Rosemary's Baby
1968
6.8
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
5.0
Alexander The Great
1968
7.6
The Dirty Dozen
1967
5.5
Devil's Angels
1967
5.8
The Legend of Jesse James
19657.5
Profiles in Courage
1964
7.8
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1964
6.9
The Killers
1964
6.5
Kraft Suspense Theatre
19635.9
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
6.3
Burke's Law
1963
7.5
Channing
1963
6.8
A Child Is Waiting
1963
7.9
Combat!
1962
7.5
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
7.9
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
6.5
The Virginian
1962
6.0
The Lloyd Bridges Show
1962
10.0
The Webster Boy
1962
5.8
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
6.4
Too Late Blues
1961
5.7
Dr. Kildare
1961
6.9
Shadows
1960
6.0
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960
5.2
Johnny Staccato
1959
6.3
Virgin Island
1959
7.2
Rawhide
1959
6.7
Saddle the Wind
1958
6.7
The Dick Clark Show
1958
5.3
Affair in Havana
1957
7.2
Edge of the City
1957
NR
No Right to Kill
1956
6.2
Crime in the Streets
1956
6.0
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
7.8
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
5.5
The Night Holds Terror
19557.7
Appointment with Adventure
1955
3.8
Climax!
1954
6.3
The United States Steel Hour
1953
6.8
General Electric Theater
1953
6.8
Taxi
1953
7.0
Omnibus
1952
7.2
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
7.3
Fourteen Hours
1951
6.0
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
5.4
Studio One
1948
6.6
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
6.8
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
7.0
Golden Globe Awards
1944