Faces Hippie

Background:

"Independent film is film that has thought in it. There's no independent thought in studio films. It's collective thought. These things you get from Hollywood are no more than computer games, where you might as well have a little wired handset that you could blow up this truck if you want instead of that one that would at least allow audience participation. With independent film, simply because they don't have the money to make a big-budget film, they're forced to make a story that's important to them, that they would like to see on film, a personal story that people can relate to, about people, where you can see the love of the characters. That's true of the best films I've done, certainly [John Cassavetes] films." Seymour Cassel

Veteran character actor Seymour Cassel was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the hippie swinger Chet in Cassavetes' “Faces” (1968).

With a career spanning for almost a half century, Cassel, who studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and at New York's Actors Studio, has appeared in almost 100 films, most notably "Too Late Blues" (1961), "The Killers" (1964), "Coogan's Bluff" (1968), "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971), "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976), "Love Streams" (1984), "Tin Men" (1987), "Dick Tracy" (1990), "White Fang" (1991), "Honeymoon in Vegas" (1992), "Indecent Proposal" (1993), "It Could Happen to You" (1994), "Rushmore" (1998), "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001), "Stealing Harvard" (2002) and "Stuck on You" (2003).

He will next be seen in the upcoming films "Irene in Time," "Staten Island," "The Disposables," "Blue World," and "Roleplay."

More personally, the 5' 7¾" often mustached and scruffy character player was married to actress Elizabeth Deering, with whom he has two children. They separated in 1983.

Detroit Roots

Childhood and Family:

In Detroit, Michigan, Seymour Cassel was born on January 22, 1935, to Pancretia Ann Kearney and Seymour Joseph Cassel. As a child, he traveled with his mother in a burlesque troupe. He later lived for several years in Panama where his family ran a nightclub.

Cassel, who appeared in summer stock productions in Michigan after high school, honed in on his craft at the American Theatre Wing and at the Actors Studio in New York.

On March 14, 1964, Cassel married actress Elizabeth Deering, who appeared with him in the films "Faces" (1968), "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971) and "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976). Deering's mother is actress Elsie Ames (May 18, 1902-May 3, 1983), who appeared in "Minnie and Moscowitz" (1971) and "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974).

Cassel and Deering have two children together, including film editor/producer/actor Matthew Cassel. Cassel also has a daughter from an earlier relationship. Cassel and Deering separated in 1983.

Cassavetes Clan

Career:

Son to a nightclub owner, Seymour Cassel was exposed to show business at an early age. As child, he traveled with his mother in a burlesque troupe, and after high school, he appeared in summer stock productions in Michigan. He later sharpened his craft at the American Theatre Wing and at the Actors Studio in New York.

In 1958, Cassel made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Richard Mason's popular 1957 novel, "The World of Suzie Wong." Afterward, the newcomer landed an unaccredited role in a string of films, beginning with John Cassavetes' directorial debut, the jazz-scored improvisational independent film "Shadows" (1959; starring Ben Carruthers and Lelia Goldoni), in which Cassel also served as associate producer.

Cassel followed it up with another unaccredited role in André De Toth's action thriller inspired by Boris Morros and Charles Samuels' books, "Man on a String" (1960; starring Ernest Borgnine), and Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg's gangster film noir based on the true-life book of lawman Burton Turkus, "Murder, Inc.," (1960; starring Stuart Whitman, May Britt, and Peter Falk).

He co-starred in the Cassavetes-directed musical drama film "Too Late Blues" (1961; with Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, and Vince Edwards), before co-starring with the director in Don Siegel's crime/drama film "The Killers" (1964; also with Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, and Ronald Reagan), a Hollywood adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's short story of the same name which is also notable for being Reagan's last acting role before entering politics. Also in 1964, he made his TV-movie debut in Siegel's "The Hanged Man," an NBC remake of the 1947 Robert Montgomery picture “Ride the Pink Horse,” which was adapted from a Dorothy Hughes novel.

1968 proved to be Cassel's breakout year when he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for portraying a kind young man from Detroit who seduces and later saves Lynn Carlin's character from suicide, in Cassavetes' "Faces." For his performance in the film, Cassel also won a Best Supporting Actor Award from the National Society of Film Critics.

"'Faces' (1968/I) and 'Shadows' (1959) are my favorite John Cassavetes films. And they were John's favorites, too. 'Shadows' because it was our first and 'Faces' because it was a defining turning point in the way we were going to make films. I knew it was because I worked on the crew. We had a crew of seven. I did it all. I shot; I loaded magazines, moved lights, put screens in. We took turns competing to shoot with the second camera. That way of making a film was so much fun. No unions to deal with, no time schedule. We shot it in continuity, which John did with every film after that. He did it for himself and he did it for the actors." Seymour Cassel

Following his star-turning work, Cassel was reunited with Siegel for "Coogan's Bluff" (1968; alongside Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Don Stroud and Susan Clark), playing a young hood. He also teamed up again with Cassavetes in the 1970s films "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971), "Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976) and "Opening Night" (1977), a drama that also stars Cassavetes and his wife Rowlands.

In the late 1970s, Cassel played Governor Haskins in Sam Peckinpah's action film based on the popular 1975 country and western and novelty song by C.W. McCall, "Convoy" (1978), starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw. He also delivered a nice turn as one of the leads, alongside Glynnis O'Connor, Dennis Christopher, and Dorothy Tristan, in John D. Hancock's romantic drama/comedy "California Dreaming" (1979).

After being jailed for conspiracy to sell cocaine in 1982, Cassel made his final film with Cassavetes, "Love Streams" (1984), which was slightly based on the 1980 play of the same name by Ted Allen. He would spent the rest of the decade being seen opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito in writer/director Barry Levinson's comical vendetta set in 1963 Baltimore, "Tin Men" (1987), and appearing in Nicholas Roeg's psychological drama/thriller starring Theresa Russell and Gary Oldman, "Track 29" (1988). He was also reunited with Roeg for the NBC production of Tennessee Williams' 1965 play, "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1989), alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Mark Harmon, and Rip Torn.

Entering the 1990s, Cassel acted in Warren Beatty's action-adventure film based on the long-running comic strip, "Dick Tracy" (1990), portraying the title role's sidekick Sam Catchem, and co-starred with Klaus Maria Brandauer and Ethan Hawke in Randal Kleiser's film based on the novel by Jack London, "White Fang" (1991). The next year, he received praise for his performance as a fast-talking hood in Alexandre Rockwell's independent comedy "In the Soup" (1992), which won him a Special Jury Recognition Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Cassel worked with Andrew Bergman for the first time as the director in the comedic movie "Honeymoon in Vegas" (1992), starring Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker. That same year, he made his third collaboration with Roeg in his big screen version of Brian Moore's 1983 novel, "Cold Heaven," starring Theresa Russell, Mark Harmon, and James Russo.

Cassel subsequently became Robert Redford's chauffeur in Adrian Lyne's take on Jack Engelhard's novel, "Indecent Proposal" (1993; also with Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson), and landed his TV series debut as a regular on the short-lived CBS police drama "Under Suspicion" (1994-1995), playing Lt. Mickey Schwartz. He also rejoined Bergman and Cage for the romantic comedy "It Could Happen to You" (1994), portraying Jack Gross, a con-man who married Cage's greedy ex-wife (played by Rosie Perez) and takes off with all her money.

In the rest of the 1990s, Cassel appeared as Uncle Al in Buscemi's feature film debut as writer and director, the dark comedy "Trees Lounge" (1996), and acted in the CBS miniseries based on a novel by "The Godfather" author, "Mario Puzo's The Last Don" (1997), starring Danny Aiello as the aging Italian mob boss. He also portrayed Jason Schwartzman's father in Wes Anderson's drama/comedy "Rushmore" (1998).

Hitting the new millennium, Cassel starred in Wes Anderson's dramatic/dark comedy "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001; with Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston) and played Uncle Jack in Bruce McCulloch's poor crime/comedy "Stealing Harvard" (2002), starring Jason Lee and Tom Green. He was also cast in the Farrelly Brothers' comedy "Stuck on You" (2003), starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, and starred with John Corbett in the FX drama, "Lucky" (2003), a dark comedy about the lives and addictions of compulsive gamblers in Las Vegas in which he played Victor "The Trake" Fleming.

2005 saw Cassel co-star in the Steve Buscemi-directed film starring Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler, "Lonesome Jim," which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Drama at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. He was also featured with Luke and Owen Wilson in the first movie directed by the acting brothers, "The Wendell Baker Story," which premiered at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March, 2005. Also that year, he appeared in Danny Green's novel-based drama/comedy "The Tenants," with Dylan McDermott, Snoop Dogg, and Rose Byrne, Giada Colagrande's romantic drama "Before It Had a Name," alongside Willem Dafoe, and Brent Roske's 3-minute short drama, "Main Street," with Kate Clarke and Arcadio Cadena.

In 2006, TV viewers could catch Cassel as Pops in the short-lived NBC action/drama series "Heist," alongside Dougray Scott, Michele Hicks, and Steve Harris. Meanwhile, he continued working for films and was seen in Charlie McDowell's short comedy "Bye Bye Benjamin," starring Benjamin Bryan, José Bojorquez's fantasy drama "Sea of Dreams," starring Johnathon Schaech, and Frank Sebastiano's softball comedy "Beer League," starring Artie Lange.

Cassel recently teamed up with Zack Ward and Dave Foley for Uwe Boll's action/comedy "Postal" (2007) and portrayed the father of a lovely young school teacher (played by Robyn Cohen) in James Sherman's romantic comedy "Beau Jest" (2008). He also starred as an old and bitter man named Alvin in LeVar Burton's drama/comedy "Reach for Me" (2008) and co-starred with Ray Liotta in Gregory J. Lanesey's baseball movie, "Chasing 3000" (2008).

Cassel has completed Henry Jaglom's upcoming drama film titled "Irene in Time" and will soon wrap up James DeMonaco's new film, "Staten Island," alongside Ethan Hawke. He is currently filming "The Disposables," Daniel Gillies' drama starring Rachael Leigh Cook, "Blue World," Charley Rivkin's thriller film based on the short story “Blue World” by Robert McCammon, and "Roleplay," Hank Blumenthal's drama in which he will co-star with Justin Kirk.

Adding to his relatively successful acting career, Cassel is also an accomplished stage director who won the Los Angeles Critics' Award for his production of "Jesse and the Bandit" at the L.A. Stage Theater.

Awards:

• Rhode Island International Film Festival: Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003

• Malibu Film Festival: Career Achievement Award, 1999

• Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Recognition, "In the Soup," 1992

• National Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor, "Faces," 1969

• Los Angeles Critics: Best Stage Director, "Jesse and the Bandit"