Actor Ben Gazzara Dies at 81

Truth rating: 10

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Ben Gazzara, a character actor who enjoyed a decades-long career on the stage and screen, died in New York on Friday.

He was 81.

Gazarra had reportedly been in hospice care for cancer.

Part of the mid-century Method acting movement with Marlon Brando and others, Gazzara gained renown in the original Broadway production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and later in a string of movies by independent pioneer John Cassavetes.

Younger audiences probably know him best from The Big Lebowski, in which Gazzara portrayed pornographer Jackie Treehorn.

He starred in the TV series “Run for Your Life.”

His collaborations with Cassavetes included Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night.

Gazzara also appeared in The Spanish Prisoner and Summer of Sam.

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