
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).
14 directing credits · 88 acting credits
Directing · 14

Johnny Staccato
1959

The Lloyd Bridges Show
1962

Gloria
1980

A Woman Under the Influence
1974

Opening Night
1977

Faces
1968

Love Streams
1984

Shadows
1960

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
1976

Minnie and Moskowitz
1971

Too Late Blues
1961

Big Trouble
1986

A Child Is Waiting
1963

Husbands
1970
Acting · 88

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

Columbo
1971

The Mike Douglas Show
1961

Golden Globe Awards
1944

The Virginian
1962

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962

Robert Montgomery Presents
1950

Dr. Kildare
1961

The Philco Television Playhouse
1948

Combat!
1962

Climax!
1954

Burke's Law
1963
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963

Rawhide
1959

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1964

Studio One
1948

The Dick Cavett Show
1968

Omnibus
1952

The Ed Sullivan Show
1948

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955

Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963

The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955

The United States Steel Hour
1953

Rosemary's Baby
1968

Johnny Staccato
1959

The Dirty Dozen
1967

The Legend of Jesse James
1965

The Dick Clark Show
1958
Profiles in Courage
1964

Channing
1963
Appointment with Adventure
1955

General Electric Theater
1953

Flesh & Blood
1979

The Fury
1978

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951

Capone
1975

Two-Minute Warning
1976

Brass Target
1978

Opening Night
1977

Mikey and Nicky
1976

Heroes
1977

The Killers
1964

Saddle the Wind
1958

Love Streams
1984

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014

Tempest
1982

Shadows
1960

Minnie and Moskowitz
1971

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
2008

Incubus
1982

Edge of the City
1957

Machine Gun McCain
1969

Iconic Couples of Hollywood
2015

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
1969

Flesh & Blood
1979

Operation Dirty Dozen
2006

Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1981

Fourteen Hours
1951

Affair in Havana
1957

A Constant Forge
2000

Husbands
1970

Peter Falk versus Columbo
2019

Alexander The Great
1968

Taxi
1953

Crime in the Streets
1956

Virgin Island
1959
Arena - John Cassavetes
1989

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960

Marvin & Tige
1985

Anything for John
1993

Devil's Angels
1967

Movies Are My Life
1988

The Night Holds Terror
1955

Bandits in Rome
1968

Nightside
1973

Fräulein Berlin
1984

No Right to Kill
1956

The Webster Boy
1962

I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work
1984
The Haircut
1982

Out of the Shadows: The Films of John Cassavetes
1993

Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film
2019
Nederland C
1985

"Cinéastes de notre temps": John Cassavetes
1969

The Making of 'Husbands'
1971

150 Miles of Rotting, Rutted, Lumpy, Dilapidated Pavement
2021

John Cassavetes par Thierry Jousse
2024