Seymour Cassel

Seymour Cassel (2007)

Seymour Cassel (born January 22, 1935 in Detroit , Michigan - † April 7, 2019 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor .

During his career he appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He has appeared repeatedly in films by directors John Cassavetes and Wes Anderson .

Life

Seymour Cassel emerged from the illegitimate relationship of a nightclub owner and a burlesque dancer. He never got to know his father and grew up with his mother who traveled from gig to gig; at the age of three he was on stage for the first time. As he later reported in an interview, "at the age of six he had already seen more breasts than other people in their entire life."

Cassel later judged his childhood: “I was a little dope comedian and a very open child, probably because I was with adults all the time. That also forced me to grow up fast, and I learned at a young age how people lie and deceive one another. I learned these things because I was alone in life from the beginning. "

His mother married an Air Force sergeant when Cassel was six years old. Numerous moves followed and after his mother divorced in 1949, he lived with a godmother in Detroit until he was 18. As a teenager he was a member of gangs and had drinking problems. At the age of 17 he was faced with the decision to go to prison or the US Navy and decided to join the military for three years.

He then came to the theater through a job as a prop master , where he soon took on minor roles. Cassel studied acting at the American Theater Wing and the Actors Studio . During this time he got to know John Cassavetes , what Cassel called his "salvation" in retrospect. Shortly thereafter, he made his debut in a minor supporting role in Cassavetes' drama Shadow (1959). For his role as Chet in the film drama Faces , also directed by Cassavetes, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1969 and won the National Society of Film Critics Award . In the action film The Tiger - The Hour of Inferno (1986) he appeared alongside Gary Busey and Yaphet Kotto . For his role in Alexandre Rockwell's comedy In the Soup (1992), he won a special award at the Sundance Film Festival .

Seymour Cassel (1995)

Cassel played in the film An Immoral Offer (1993) the role of Mr. Shackleford , the driver and confidante of John Gage portrayed by Robert Redford . From 1994 to 1995 he was in the television series Unter Verdacht - The Corrupt Policeman in the role of Mickey Schwartz . In the comedy Café Blue Eyes (1996) he played the understanding café owner Leo .

From the late 1990s he worked repeatedly with director Wes Anderson , in his films Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Deep Sea Divers (2004) he took on a role.

Cassel received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Malibu Film Festival in 1999, followed by an award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2003. In 2009 he received the Indie Icon Award at the San Diego Film Festival. In 2012, a new actor award was introduced at the Oldenburg Film Festival and named after Seymour Cassel.

Cassel was married to actress Elizabeth Deering from 1964 to 1983. He died in April 2019 at the age of 84 with his family as a result of Alzheimer's disease . He left three children, including film editor Matthew Cassel , as well as seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Filmography (selection)

• 1959: Shadows (Shadows)
• 1960: Secret files M (Man on a String)
• 1960: Juke Box Racket
• 1960: Underworld (Murder Inc.)
• 1961: Too Late Blues
• 1962: The Webster Boy
• 1963: The Nutty Professor (The Nutty Professor)
• 1964: The Killers (The Killers)
• 1965–1966: 12 O'Clock High (TV series, 5 episodes)
• 1968: Faces (Faces)
• 1968: Coogan's Bluff (Coogan's Bluff)
• 1970: The Revolutionary
• 1971: Minnie and Moskowitz (Minnie and Moskowitz)
• 1976: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie)
• 1976: The Last Tycoon (The Last Tycoon)
• 1977: Death Game
• 1977: Black Oak Conspiracy
• 1977: Valentino
• 1978: Convoy
• 1979: California Dreaming
• 1979: Doomed to Survive (Ravagers)
• 1979: Hot Hell Acapulco (Sunburn)
• 1980: Duel on the Wind River (The Mountain Men)
• 1981: Heroes of the Road (King of the Mountain)
• 1982: Psycho-Killer (Double Exposure)
• 1984: Love Streams
• 1986: The Callgirl Club (Beverly Hills Madam)
• 1986: Eye of the Tiger
• 1987: Tin Men
• 1987: Dynamike (Survival Game)
• 1987 Plain Clothes High School Murder (Plain Clothes)
• 1988: Johnny be Good
• 1988: Colors - Colors of violence (Colors)
• 1988: Track 29 - A Dangerous Game (Track 29)
• 1988: Starship Enterprise - The Next Century ( Star Trek: The Next Generation , TV series, 1 episode)
• 1988: Matlock (TV series, 3 episodes)
• 1989: Dance of the Witches (Wicked Stepmother)
• 1990: Dick Tracy
• 1990: Cold Dog - To Hell With Heavenly Dog (Cold Dog Soup)
• 1991: Wolfsblut (White Fang)
• 1991: The Real Bosses - A Fiendish Empire (Mobsters)
• 1991: Cold Heaven
• 1991: Nobody Can Get Out Of Here (Diary of a Hitman)
• 1991: The Perfect Murder ( Dead in the Water , Movie made for TV)
• 1991: Face of a Stranger (TV movie)
• 1992: Alles Kino (In the Soup)
• 1992: Wild Angel (Love Is Like That)
• 1992: Chain of Desire
• 1992: ... but not with my bride - Honeymoon in Vegas (Honeymoon in Vegas)
• 1992: Adventures in Spying
• 1993: Harry & Kit - Trouble Bound (Trouble Bound)
• 1993: An Immoral Offer (Indecent Proposal)
• 1993: Boiling Point - The bomb is ticking (Boiling Point)
• 1993 When Pigs Fly
• 1994: Handgun - Chase through New York (Hand Gun)
• 1994: Chasers - Too sexy for jail (Chasers)
• 1994: $ 2 million tip (It Could Happen to You)
• 1994: Deadly Pictures (Dark Side of Genius)
• 1994: The Last Days of Paradise
• 1994: Our world was a beautiful lie (Imaginary Crimes)
• 1994–1995: Under Suspicion - The Corrupt Policeman ( Under Suspicion , TV series, 17 episodes)
• 1996: What I've Never Told You (Things I Never Told You)
• 1996: Café Blue Eyes - Sleepless Desire (Dream for an Insomniac)
• 1996: Good Company (TV series, 6 episodes)
• 1996: Trees Lounge - The bar where everything turns (Trees Lounge)
• 1996: Dead Girl
• 1996: Chameleon (Caméléone)
• 1996: The Last Home Run
• 1996–1999: Tracey Takes On ... (TV series, 9 episodes)
• 1997: Without Conscience (This World, Then the Fireworks)
• 1997: Cannes Man
• 1997: Obsession
• 1997: The Hawking Affair (Motel Blue)
• 1998: Hollywood Salome
• 1998: Relax ... It's Just Sex
• 1998: Some like it differently (The Treat)
• 1998: Snapped
• 1998: Rushmore
• 1998: The Last Call
• 1999: Temps
• 1999: Ballad of the Nightingale
• 1999: Cuban smoking
• 1999: Me and Will
• 1999: Black & White - Dangerous Suspicion (Black and White)
• 2000: Animal Factory
• 2000: Second Chance - Everything will be fine (The Crew)
• 2000: Just One Night
• 2001: The Sleepy Time Gal
• 2001: Bartleby
• 2001: 61 * (TV movie)
• 2001: Women of the Night
• 2001: The Cure for Boredom
• 2001: The Royal Tenenbaums (The Royal Tenenbaums)
• 2001: The Chameleon
• 2002: Passionada
• 2002: Sonny
• 2002: Heavy Boys (Stealing Harvard)
• 2002: Manna from Heaven
• 2002: The Burial Society
• 2002: The Biz
• 2003: A Good Night to Die
• 2003: Inseparable (Stuck on You)
• 2004: Sweet Underground
• 2004: The Deep Sea Divers (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
• 2005: Lonesome Jim
• 2005: The Wendell Baker Story
• 2005: Bittersweet Place
• 2005: The Tenants
• 2005: Before It Had a Name
• 2005: Welcome to California
• 2005: Circadian Rhythm
• 2006: Sea of ​​Dreams
• 2006: Hollywood Dreams
• 2006: Heist (TV series, 6 episodes)
• 2006: Ray of Sunshine
• 2006: Beer League
• 2007: The Happiest Day of His Life
• 2007: Postal
• 2007: Cosmic Radio
• 2008: Beau Jest
• 2008: Barbers, IL
• 2008: Big Heart City
• 2008: Reach for Me
• 2008: To Love and Die (TV movie)
• 2009: Staten Island
• 2009: Not Dead Yet
• 2010: Chasing 3000
• 2010: Kissing Strangers
• 2010: Pete Smalls Is Dead
• 2010: Now Here
• 2010: Back Nine (TV movie)
• 2011: Fort McCoy
• 2011: Without Borders
• 2011: L! Fe Happens - Just life! (L! Fe Happens)
• 2011: Freerunner
• 2011: Circling the Drain (TV movie)
• 2012: Silver Case
• 2012: Booster
• 2012: Broken Kingdom
• 2012: Lost Angeles
• 2013: The Secret Lives of Dorks
• 2014: Pride of Lions
• 2014: Lucky Dog
• 2014: The Algerian
• 2014: At the Maple Grove
• 2015: Silver Case: Director's Cut

Web links

• Seymour Cassel in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Seymour Cassel at filmportal.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Dave McNary: Seymour Cassel, Actor in John Cassavetes and Wes Anderson Films, Dies at 84 . In: Variety.com of April 8, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Nardine Saad: Seymour Cassel, beloved actor in John Cassavetes' films, dies at 84 . In: The Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2019.
3. ↑ Seymour Cassel Award launched . In: filmfest-oldenburg.de, accessed on October 20, 2012.