I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - The Man and His Work

John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as an actor on television and in film, Cassavetes also became a pioneer of American independent cinema, writing and directing movies financed in part with income from his acting work. AllMovie called him "an iconoclastic maverick," while The New Yorker suggested that he "may be the most influential American director of the last half century." As an actor, Cassavetes starred in notable Hollywood films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Edge of the City (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Rosemary's Baby (1968). He began his directing career with the 1959 independent feature Shadows and followed with independent productions such as Faces (1968), Husbands (1970), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977), and Love Streams (1984), in addition to intermittent studio work. Cassavetes' films employed an actor-centered approach which privileged character examination over traditional Hollywood storytelling or stylized production values. His films became associated with an improvisational, cinéma vérité aesthetic. He collaborated frequently with a rotating group of friends, crew members, and actors, including his wife Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and Seymour Cassel. For his role in The Dirty Dozen, Cassavetes received a Best Supporting Actor nomination. As a filmmaker, he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Faces (1968) and Best Director for A Woman Under the Influence (1974). Description from the Wikipedia article John Cassavetes, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977).

Zoe Rowlands Cassavetes (born June 29, 1970) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She is the daughter of filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands. She is best known for her 2007 film Broken English. Description above from the Wikipedia article Marie Guillard, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Menahem Golan (born 31 October, 1929 - died 8 August, 2014) was an Israeli director and producer. He has produced movies for such stars as Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Charles Bronson, and was known for a period as a producer of comic book-style movies like Masters of the Universe, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Captain America, and his aborted attempt to bring Spider-Man to the silver screen. Using the pen name of Joseph Goldman, Golan also wrote and "polished" film scripts. He was co-owner of Golan-Globus with his cousin Yoram Globus. Description above from the Wikipedia article Menahem Golan licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Faces (1968). Description above from the Wikipedia article  Seymour Cassel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Bo started his career as lead singer/guitarist in a southern California rock band in 1966 and scored his first feature film, The Bach Train, in 1969. In 1972, as well as being the composer on John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence, he also worked as production sound mixer for the first time. Between 1970 and 1986, Bo worked closely with John mainly in music composition, sound mixing and in the editing room on six features ranging from Husbands and Woman Under the Influence to Love Streams. On the stage, he proved his talent again by winning several awards in music and sound design and, in 1981, co-produced Cassavetes’ Three Plays of Love and Hate. Bo has been nominated for three Canadian Academy Awards (the Genie Award) in three different categories (1981-Best Overall Sound, 1982-Best Film Score, 1984-Best Original Song) winning the award in ’84 for the title song in Paul Almond’s feature, Ups and Downs. Bo received three Emmy nominations; one in 1990 and another in 1991, for his work on Pee Wee’s Playhouse. He won the Emmy (Best Sound Mixing in Film) in 1991. He shared an Emmy Award win (Best Sound Mixing in Film) in 2006 for co-mixing an episode of HBO’s, Entourage. Bo was also nominated by the Cinema Audio Society (for Best Sound Mixing-Drama Series) for his sound work on HBO’s Six Feet Under. Mr. Harwood produced James Eric’s feature, The Discontented and in 1992, co-composed and sang the title song in Paul Almond’s feature film, The Dance Goes On. Description from Bo Harwood's official website.