The Only Major Actors Still Alive From The Godfather
There was a time when a great many people would proclaim Francis Ford Coppola's mob masterpiece "The Godfather" as the greatest American film of the last 50 years. Those people can't do that anymore. It isn't because the movie has lost any of its artistic power or breathtaking cinematic invention. It's simply because "The Godfather" is now 51 years old, having been released back in 1972. The film is now closer to 1922, five years prior to the popularization of synchronized sound in film, than it is to today, and that gap will only continue to grow thanks to the inevitable march of time.
Because of that time, we have lost so many people involved in the making of the picture, including Mario Puzo, the film's co-writer and author of the original novel, and Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who crafted the signature dark look of the picture. Also gone are many of the film's cast members, from John Cazale's untimely passing in 1978 to James Caan just last year. These actors created characters that will live on in the cinematic firmament forever, but only a few remain to continue to see that legacy.
Luckily, one of those people is the director, Francis Ford Coppola, who at the age 84 is in the midst of making his massive, self-financed passion project "Megalopolis." But Coppola is not the only person still with us. Some of the most memorable faces from "The Godfather" are still kicking, and naturally, most of them are some of the best actors of their generation.
Al Pacino (Michael Corleone)
When Al Pacino took on the role of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather," he was essentially an unknown actor in Hollywood, having only appeared in two movies prior. He was, however, a well-respected New York theatre actor who had won a Tony Award in 1969. Francis Ford Coppola had to fight tooth and nail to get Paramount to agree to casting Pacino as the co-lead, which seems hilarious to us now considering the career that the actor went on to have.
Look, if you were to make a list of the 10 most important actors in the history of American cinema, Al Pacino has to be on that list. "The Godfather" rocketed him into the upper echelon of the industry, and he proceeded to rattle off a string of monumental performances, including those in "Serpico," "The Godfather Part II," "Dog Day Afternoon, "... And Justice for All," "Scarface," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Heat," and "The Insider." He also transformed who he was as an actor, evolving from a wily mumbler to cinema's most preeminent yeller.
That transition eventually led to him becoming somewhat of a parody of himself, where the yelling just came off as him overacting. Pacino won his only Academy Award for "Scent of a Woman" in 1992, an overdue legacy Oscar for a performance that indulges in all of Pacino's most absurd tendencies. For the last 25 or so years, the quality of a Pacino performance is a crapshoot. Sometimes it stands among his best work (see: "The Irishman"), and sometimes he's in complete trash (see: "88 Minutes"). At 83 years old, all I can do is admire that he keeps working and seems to just love acting. Even if many of his more recent choices are baffling, I'm always interested in his swings.
Robert Duvall (Tom Hagen)
Although he may not have changed what people think of what film acting is like Al Pacino, Robert Duvall has carved out a career for himself as one of the best actors to ever do it. Before "The Godfather," Duvall was already having a good career in the film business, with roles in "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Bullitt," "True Grit," "M*A*S*H," and "THX 1138." But after "The Godfather," Duvall moved from being a character actor you have seen before to a major talent where you knew his name and were excited to see his next movie.
Robert Duvall works constantly. Rarely does a year pass by where he isn't in at least one movie, and usually, he's in multiple. Because he is a character actor at heart, that means that even though he's in so many movies, he often plays supporting roles. Duvall is one of those actors you can plug and play in just about any movie you can imagine, from a raucous satire like "Network" to sports movie fluff like "Days of Thunder" to small dramas like "Sling Blade." Unlike Pacino, where the quality of a performance can vary wildly, no one has ever walked out of a movie disliking a Duvall performance, even if the movie is awful.
He won his Oscar for the 1983 film "Tender Mercies," which isn't a movie that gets talked about a lot nowadays, but if you were to see it, you'd completely understand that Oscar win. Duvall has even directed a few films over his career, most notably the 1997 picture "The Apostle." The man turns 93 in January 2024, and he's still consistently working. It seems like he will until he drops, which you have to admire.
Diane Keaton (Kay Adams)
Diane Keaton was even newer to the film business than Al Pacino was before "The Godfather." This was only her second feature film. Even recently, Keaton asked Francis Ford Coppola on Instagram, "Why on Earth did you choose me for 'The Godfather?!!'" Well, as it turns out, there has never been another screen presence quite like Diane Keaton.
Because of her looks, she could have easily fallen into the trap of always playing the girlfriend or the wife, just there to look pretty. But Keaton has this offbeat humor and deep soulfulness about her that pushes through every single second she's on camera. Kay in "The Godfather" could be a nothing part, and she ends up being the soul of the movie. While this was the biggest platform she had, it wasn't the one that would fundamentally alter her career forever. That would come the same year, though, with her first film collaboration with Woody Allen. The two would go on to make eight pictures together, including her Oscar-winning turn in "Annie Hall." Her next major creative partnership would be with Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, starring in "Baby Boom," the two "Father of the Bride" movies, and Meyers' third solo project, "Something's Gotta Give."
So many women of Keaton's age have been relegated to playing supporting grandma roles in movies. Not Keaton. For awhile now, she has been at the forefront of the light comedies about an ensemble of older women cinematic trend that includes "Book Club," "Poms," and even stretches back to "The First Wives Club." She has another one coming soon called "Summer Camp." Keaton has always found ways to find major roles for herself, and in a business so unkind to older women, that's wonderful.
Talia Shire (Connie Corleone)
Francis Ford Coppola has always made his films family affairs, which explains why the Coppola family itself has turned into something of a filmmaking dynasty. "The Godfather" was no exception, and that included casting his sister, Talia Shire, as Connie Corleone. Now, this wasn't a case of Coppola hiring someone with no experience or anything. She'd been in several movies prior, but being that they were family, he really understood her strengths, her range, and her command of the screen. When "The Godfather Part II" rolled around, her role increased exponentially and earned her an Oscar nomination. Two years after that, she earned another one for playing Adrian in "Rocky," meaning she starred in three Best Picture winners in five years.
Her acting career ended up being less robust than the previous three actors, although she did appear in all the "Rocky" sequels (albeit via archival footage in "Rocky Balboa") and cult favorites like "Old Boyfriends" and "Windows." Partly, this had to do with the fact that she was also a mom to three kids, but I don't doubt that some of it was partly because Hollywood wasn't exactly sure how to use her once the 1980s rolled around and roles for women became far less interesting.
Lately, Shire has mainly appeared in films made by family members, such as Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" or her son Robert Schwartzman's "Dreamland." She is also set to appear in "Megalopolis" as well, alongside another of her sons, Jason Schwartzman (maybe you've heard of him). Just because the roles were not always there for her doesn't mean Talia Shire ever stopped being a fascinating actor, and I can't wait to see her in a new Francis Ford Coppola film.