The Only 4 Stars Still Alive From The Cast Of The Godfather

Time can be kind to some films. Box office duds and critical failures can be reevaluated and earn a renewed appreciation, launching them to belated success. "The Godfather" never needed such treatment. Upon its debut in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola's era-defining feature was a critical and commercial juggernaut. It was the highest-grossing film of the year and it earned 11 Academy Award nominations.

More than 50 years later, that adoration for "The Godfather" remains. Unfortunately, much of the impressive cast is no longer with us. Marlon Brando, who earned an Academy Award for his stately portrayal of Don Vito Corleone, passed away in 2004. "The Godfather" marked the film debut of John Cazale, who played the soft-spoken middle Corleone son, Fredo. Cazale would only appear in four more films — two of which were also directed by Coppola — before he died of cancer in 1978. James Caan rose to prominence playing the hot-headed Sonny Corleone, and he later starred in films like "The Gambler," "Misery," and "Thief." Caan passed away in 2022. 

Indeed, very few of the original "Godfather" cast members are still alive, among them Gianni Russo, who played Connie's deplorable husband, Carlo, John Martino, who played Corleone family soldier Paulie Gatto, and Simonetta Stefanelli, the actress who portrayed Michael's doomed wife Apollonia. Here are the starring "Godfather" cast members who are still alive.

"The Godfather" was the first of many career-defining roles for Al Pacino, though it didn't seem like it at the time. In a 2023 interview for the "People Who Inspire Us" series at 92NY, the actor recalled the first day of filming "The Godfather," saying, "Diane Keaton and I got drunk and thought, 'This is it, our careers are over. This is a mess'" (via The Hollywood Reporter). Obviously, things shook out a little differently, and the role of educated-soldier-turned-corrupted gangster Michael Corleone shot Pacino to fame.

Since 1972, there's hardly been a single lull in Pacino's career. Indeed, the actor has racked up iconic performances in each ensuing decade: "The Godfather Part II" and "Dog Day Afternoon" to round out the '70s; "Cruising" and "Scarface" in the '80s; "Carlito's Way" and "Heat" in the '90s; and so on and so forth, with "The Irishman" marking Pacino's most recent Oscar nomination.

"The Godfather" thrust Pacino into the limelight, and he had understandably complicated feelings about the newfound fame. He even skipped the Academy Award ceremony, despite earning a best supporting actor nomination — a decision he blames now on youthful rebellion.

Still, the actor is endlessly grateful for the impact "The Godfather" had on his career. "I'm here because I did 'The Godfather,'" Pacino told The New York Times in 2022. "For an actor, that's like winning the lottery." The 83-year-old actor has a number of upcoming projects on his docket, including "Modi," a Johnny Depp-directed biopic about Amedeo Modigliani.

Like Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall was already a seasoned performer upon joining the cast of "The Godfather," having appeared in films like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "M*A*S*H." He brings that sage seniority to the role of Tom Hagen. While not a blood member of the Corleone family, Hagen is Vito's legal counsel, adopted son, and right hand man. Better yet, he's not bothered by a little violence — even equine violence.

Duvall and Coppola enjoyed a similar (albeit less corrupt) partnership, having previously collaborated on Coppola's 1969 film "The Rain People," starring James Caan. During the casting process, Duvall was Coppola's first choice to play Hagen, and the pair would later work together again on the sequel as well as "The Conversation" and "Apocalypse Now."

"He was great," Duvall said of the director in a 2022 interview with The Gate. "We kept the relationship somewhat for years to come. In a couple of films I directed he helped me with the editing; he was very open to that and very good. A good guy to work with; wanted to see what you would do."

Following his Oscar-nominated role in "The Godfather," Duvall would go on to appear in films like "Network" and "The Natural," and in 2015, he became the oldest person to be nominated for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards for "The Judge." At 93 years old, Duvall is the oldest surviving cast member of "The Godfather," and he is still working. His latest movie, the Ed Harris-directed "The Ploughmen," is currently in production.

As a newcomer to the Corleone family, Diane Keaton's Kay Adams is the closest "The Godfather" comes to having an audience surrogate. The role is a deceptively simple one; Kay is a fish out of water, and she lacks the earthy mystique of Michael's first wife, Apollonia. Yet it is an arresting shot of Keaton's face that closes the chapter on "The Godfather" and cements Michael's criminal ascendance.

Fifty years after the film's release, Keaton took to Instagram Stories to ask Coppola, "Why on Earth did you choose me for the Godfather?!" (via X). The director replied, "I chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife, there was something about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right)."

Prior to "The Godfather," Keaton was primarily known for her stage work, including a role in the original 1968 production of "Hair." That, too, played a part in Coppola's casting decision. "I was invited by Fred Astaire to accompany him to see 'Hair' which he couldn't make 'hide nor hair' out of," Coppola continued. "You were in it, and I remember your beautiful singing voice."

Like her co-stars, Keaton's career took off after "The Godfather," and that decade became defined by her collaborations with Woody Allen, including 1977's "Annie Hall." Beginning in the '80s, she became a muse to Nancy Meyers. Other notable roles include "Reds," "Marvin's Room," and "The Family Stone."

At 78, Keaton is showing no signs of slowing. She'll appear next in "Arthur's Whisky" and the upcoming comedy "Summer Camp."

The stage for "The Godfather" is set at the wedding of Connie, the youngest of the Corleone clan. For Talia Shire, the scene was a real-life family affair. Her brother was the director, and other family members populated the background. "I cannot tell you what the stress was like," Shire recalled to The Hollywood Reporter of the two weeks spent filming the wedding sequence. "My father was the band conductor in the scene. And my mother was there. Seeing me as a bride, that is all that she could see. She couldn't see any of the stresses around it."

Connie arguably undergoes the most change over the course of the "Godfather" trilogy. In "Part I," she is the victim of spousal abuse, and then a premature widow at the hands of her brother. "Part II" sees her in a self-destructive tailspin. By "Part III" in 1990, Connie has taken on the leadership characteristics of her late father, Vito. For Shire, the trilogy's legacy was established after the first movie. "'The Godfather' has a soul and a presence," Shire continued. "And that's what movies do: They change you if they're alive. When you're dealing with a work of art, you have to be changed — or don't go near it."

In addition to "The Godfather," Shire is best known for playing Adrian Balboa in the "Rocky" series. But family is clearly important to the actress. She is set to appear in Coppola's much-anticipated epic "Megalopolis" alongside her son, Jason Schwartzman.