Whereas often called a Hollywood powerful man, Mel Brooks remembers a softer facet of actor James Caan, who gave him a canine he had for 15 years (and nonetheless misses).
Whereas he could also be greatest remembered for his powerful man roles in classics like The Godfather and (Greatest Film You By no means Noticed fave) Thief, actor James Caan had a tender facet. Again in 1976, he did a cameo (as himself) within the underrated Mel Brooks comedy Silent Film. The function led to an unlikely friendship with the director, helped by the truth that they solely lived a couple of block away from one another. In his fabulous guide, All About Me! (Purchase it right here), Brooks affectionately remembers how, across the time they had been capturing Silent Film, Caan’s canine gave beginning to 5 puppies, and he supplied one to Brooks, and his spouse, the legendary actress Anne Bancroft.
“Anne and I took him up on that,” Brooks remembered. “We went to his house, and one of the pups left the pack and made his way over to us. So, instead of picking out a pup, he picked us!” They named him Pongo after the primary canine in 101 Dalmatians. Within the guide, Brooks reveals that he had no concept, at first, that Pongo was a pit bull terrier and that for some time, he and Bancroft had been frightened as a consequence of stereotypes concerning the breed, however all for nought. “He never ever bit anyone and was a sweetheart of a dog,” says Brooks. Brooks remembers that his son Max (who would later go on to jot down World Warfare Z) was notably keen on Pongo (and vice versa), and when Caan died, Max put a tribute to each the actor and his former canine on Twitter:
Brooks says the one factor the canine ever did that bothered him was that, as they lived near a hill, Pongo typically used it to leap onto the roof of their front room, and would solely come down when bribed together with his favourite snack, Cheerios. “Pongo lived with us for a long, long time – almost fifteen years. And I still miss him.”
