10 Great Posthumous Performances

3) John Cazale In The Deer Hunter

No other actor who’s ever walked this Earth had a consistent hit rate quite like John Cazale did. Just look at his filmography – a mere five movies, all of them stone-cold classics: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and, his final film, The Deer Hunter.

Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino knew Cazale had terminal lung cancer when he was making the movie, so he got Cazale’s scenes out of the way early, completing them just before he died.

Cazale’s energy in the film betrays his tragic predicament. Here, he steps into the role a small-town man trying too hard to be one of the guys. It’s a beautifully played take on an incredibly insecure figure.