Sonny has passed the tollgate

R.I.P. Jimmy Caan, 1940-2022

In the month of November, 1971, Caan soared from “oh, yeah, that guy” status to superstardom in one night when ABC aired a made-for-TV film named Brian’s Song, in which Caan played the doomed football star Brian Piccolo. Piccolo was at first the rival of the Chicago Bears’ great Gale Sayers, and then his backfield running mate and closest friend. The story is based on the recollections in Sayers’ own 1970 autobiography, I Am Third. It was the most-viewed TV movie in history at the time, and its combination of humor and heartfelt sentiment make it one of the best TV films and one of the best sports movies of all time. (92% at RT).

Brian’s Song represented sort of an oddity in biopics in that Billy Dee Williams and James Caan were each born before the characters they portrayed. Although the events of the film had taken place several years earlier, Gale Sayers was still only 28 when the film aired, while Billy Dee was 34, and played Sayers as young as college age.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Caan was also in a movie many consider the greatest gangster picture and possibly the best movie ever made.

I am referring, of course, to Mickey Blue Eyes.

3 thoughts on “Sonny has passed the tollgate

  1. Loved him in one of my guilty pleasures “Rollerball” …the remake was horrible, but look up the original

  2. Another good actor from the past gone. I really enjoyed Rollerball every time it came on tv as a kid.

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