James Caan, the Academy Award-nominated star best known for his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, has died at the age of 82.

The news was confirmed via a message posted on the actor’s social media. “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6.

“The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.”

The message concludes with “End of tweet” – a nod to the phrase that Caan used to wrap up all his tweets.

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6.

The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.

End of tweet

— James Caan (@James_Caan) July 7, 2022

Caan was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York City. After studying acting at Hofstra University in New York state, he met Francis Ford Coppola, who would go on to provide Caan with his most celebrated role in The Godfather – as well as a cameo in its sequel.

After taking the first major steps in his career with films like El Dorado (1966), Countdown (1967) and Coppola’s The Rain People (1969), Caan took a break from his hard-partying life in Hollwood, a period he once described as a “scary time”.

He later went on to have success in a second chapter of his acting life, with films including Misery (1990), Dick Tracy (1990), and Wes Anderson’s directorial debut, Bottle Rocket (1996). Caan was due to reunite with Coppla on Megalopolis, which was scheduled to begin filming later this year.

Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn was one of the first major Hollywood names to pay tribute to Caan.

“Rest In Peace James Caan,” he wrote on Twitter. “There are so many movies of his I love, The Godfather films of course being at the very top, but here are a few more I adore (Thief in particular was a Gunn family classic – I had the poster on my wall in high school).”

Rest In Peace James Caan. There are so many movies of his I love, The Godfather films of course being at the very top, but here are a few more I adore (Thief in particular was a Gunn family classic – I had the poster on my wall in high school). ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/mhrtGMzB0S

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 7, 2022

Jennifer Tilly, the actress who received an Academy Award nomination for her role in 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, shared an amusing story passed onto her by Caan.

James Caan always had the funniest stories. Once he told me Coppola had the habit of grabbing food off his plate & eating it, so one day he made a sandwich with very hot jalapeños between two pieces of buttered bread, & waited outside Coppola’s airstream…

— Jennifer Tilly (@JenniferTilly) July 7, 2022

Andy Richter remembered Caan as “funny, warm, self-deprecating, and effortlessly talented,” as well as recalling his time working with the actor.

RIP James Caan. Shocked. Was lucky enough, after a lifetime of loving his work, to get to work with him and I loved him as a person even more. Funny, warm, self-deprecating, and effortlessly talented. They say never meet your heroes, but he proved that to be very very wrong

— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) July 7, 2022

No cause of death has been provided.