Actor John Cazale is notable not just for his talents and intensity as a performer, but also for having one of the most impressive filmographies for any actor with a career as short as his. Cazale, a prolific theater veteran, famously only appeared in five feature films before his untimely death of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 42. Those five films, however, are often considered some of the best and most significant films of the 1970s, which is saying something.

Cazale appeared in three Francis Ford Coppola movies ("The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II," and "The Conversation"), as well as Sidney Lumet's stirring bank robber drama "Dog Day Afternoon" and Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter." Cazale played supporting roles in all of them. Each one of them was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Three of them won.

Cazale's film career, of course, was only a small piece of his acting experience. Notoriously guarded and shy, he made his stage debut in a 1962 rendition of the play "J.B." He also performed in multiple off-Broadway shows like "Spoon River Anthology," "The Iceman Cometh," and Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" (playing the role of Angelo). In 1977, he was to make his Broadway debut playing Agamemnon in the first play of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy. Cazale only played the part in the show's first preview, however, as he had to withdraw for health reasons. He received his cancer diagnosis shortly thereafter.

Cazale's performances are all marked by tragedy, as one can see how much talent and presence he had on the big screen. Had he remained healthy, there's every reason to believe Cazale would have continued to turn out amazing performances for interesting, ambitious filmmakers.

Of the five films he did appear in, /Film offers the following (perhaps controversial) ranking of their quality.