On July 7, 2022, James Caan’s family posted the sad news of his d.e.a.t.h on his Twitter account. The star’s family told the press that the actor had passed away the night before.
At the time of his d.e.a.t.h, he was 82 years old. His family thanked his fans and followers for their kind messages and then asked them to give them more privacy while they were grieving.
In the post, James’ family called him “Jimmy” and said that it was with “great sadness” that they told him he had passed away. Before he passed away, the star got married four times, so he had a full life.
His first wife was the actress Dee Jay Mathis, whom he married in 1961. After five years of marriage, they split up. During their marriage, which ended in 1966, they had a daughter named Tara.
James fell in love with Playboy model Sheila Ryan after his first marriage ended, and they got married in 1976. During their short marriage, which ended in 1977, they had a son named Scott.
By 1990, the late actor had moved on to work with Ingrid Hajek. James was 20 years older than his bride, and they had a son named Alexander before getting a divorce in 1994.
The actor’s last wife was Linda Stokes, whom he married in 1995. The couple stayed together for twenty years, and because of court battles, this was the relationship that hurt the actor the most.
Stokes went to court with the star more than once, including to get back child support and custody of their two sons, James Jr. and Jacob. James filed for divorce from her twice, in 2005 and 2009, before the final time in 2015.
When he was asked to be in “Apocalypse Now,” James said no because Ryan was pregnant with Scott at the time. The celebrity said that the boy was his “dream child.”
The actor gave up a house with a maid in Manila and helicopter rides to the filming location in the jungle so he could be with his pregnant wife. James told the producer of the movie that tsetse flies and heights were two things he hated.
He didn’t want to be away from his pregnant wife for six months. James’ life changed a lot when his sister Barbara passed away at the age of 38 after a long battle with leukemia.
The actor was heartbroken when she passed away, and he felt “vulnerable and sad.” He said that she was his manager and best friend and that she lived near him while he ran his production company.
James said that the only person he was afraid of was his sister. After her d.e.a.t.h, the star realized how important passion was because it could end quickly, noting:
“I wanted nothing more than to grow up with my son.”
Scott says that James didn’t make many movies while he was growing up. In fact, the star stopped making movies for fifteen years! From the time he was five years old until he was fifteen, Scott didn’t know his father was an actor.
James spent time with the actor’s son, so he could give him his full attention. Scott remembered that his father was “rebellious” and that his life was full of ups and downs, but to him, he was just his father.
The younger Caan didn’t know who the big star was, and because James’ movies were R-rated, he never saw them as a child. Scott wasn’t even 11 when he saw “The Godfather.”
When his father’s character was shot, James’s son got upset and thought it was strange. He then turned off the movie. Scott didn’t like seeing his father like that, but he came to respect his work and think James was awesome.
The relationship between the father and son wasn’t perfect, though, because Scott had some hard times as a child. In 2010, the younger Caan told People magazine that it would be a lie to say that their relationship wasn’t broken.
James was very open about the fact that he had fought addiction and won. The actor admitted at the time that his son met him when he was “a little rough around the edges.”
Scott, on the other hand, had “no anger” toward James. He admitted that his father had made mistakes that hurt them both, but James was always there for him no matter what.
Scott played basketball, football, soccer, and baseball when he was young. Scott got into sports because his father did, but by the time he was 11 or 12, he didn’t want to play anymore. He started using illegal drugs and hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Because his father didn’t like surfing and skateboarding, he took up those sports to be “rebellious.” James liked team sports, but his son liked how skateboarding and surfing let him do things on his own.
Back then, skating and surfing were seen as things that bad kids did, and Scott liked that reputation because he didn’t want to be like everyone else. He didn’t care what people thought of him when he did the two sports.
The star of “Misery” was very strict about being good at everything she did. He told his son that he had to be the best or not bother at all. He thought it was sad when people were talented but didn’t use them.
Even when Scott was a child, James wanted him to work harder than everyone else. He expected him to do things right and with passion because there was always someone who wanted it more.
Even though the actor wasn’t always a great parent, he tried to raise his children differently than his own father did. James admitted this in the September 2003 issue of Esquire:
“I never saw my dad cry. My son saw me sobbing. My dad never told me he loved me, so I told Scott every other minute that I loved him.”
The “Elf” star was determined to make fewer mistakes than his father so that his sons would hopefully make fewer mistakes than him, and so on. He hoped that one day they’d have “a perfect Caan.”
Scott and his longtime girlfriend, Kacy Byxbee, had their first child, a girl named Josie James Caan, on July 9, 2014. A source says that James’s son took time off work so he could be there when his child was born.
Scott followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming an actor. He studied acting in Los Angeles at Playhouse West. The remake of “Ocean’s Eleven” in 2001 made him famous.
Scott has been in many movies and TV shows, such as “Hawaii Five-0,” “Into the Blue,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Varsity Blues,” and more. James didn’t want him to go into the business, according to his son who looks like him.
“He knew it would be hard to keep doing this job, and it’s hard to be creative when you play the same guy for seven years.”
Scott says that James thought “his family was more important” than what he did for a living. When giving advice to young actors, the late star said that family and friends should always come first, no matter how famous you get, because things will always go backward in the end.
He thought it was bad for people to put all their eggs in one basket. James thought those people were bad, but he said he wasn’t saying people shouldn’t try to be the best they can be. He just thought it was good to have more.
The late actor told his son and other people that if things went wrong, they should have the support of their dads, girlfriends, and brothers. When it comes to siblings, Tara seems to have chosen a life outside of Hollywood, but she has been seen with her father more than once.
Alexander was an actor, too, but he hadn’t been in anything important yet. He is also a musician who makes electronic music with “Audio Medic.” Like James Jr., he stays out of the spotlight.
Jacob used to go to events with their father, but as he got older, he pulled back. In February 2020, the youngest Caan was seen pushing James in a wheelchair after they had dinner in Los Angeles. This was one of the few times they were seen.