As one of American cinemas most overlooked master actors, the late John Cazale had a cinematically perfect, albeit brief, career. His first film was ‘The Godfather’, followed by Francis Ford Coppola’s paranoia masterwork ‘The Conversation’. That same year saw ‘The Godfather II’, before another blistering onscreen partnership with Al Pacino as doomed bank robbers in ‘Dog Day Afternoon’.

By the time these box office and critical hits had revolutionised cinema, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and signed up for the Vietnam drama ‘The Deer Hunter’. He became engaged to his co-star Meryl Streep, and they shot all of his scenes first. While Cazale (pictured second on the left) never saw the finished film, he holds an impressive distinction – every film he starred in was a Best Picture Oscar nominee and three out of five won the top honour.