1. John Cazale
The ultimate example of the face that you know but could never place with a name, John Cazale only made five films in his short career, yet all five were gems. Cazale is the oldest member of this list, though like the others he died far too young. He was a stage actor before he made his film debut at the age of 36 as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather, he may have left it late but its a hell of a way to start right? The role of Fredo was a small one and could quite easily have been lost amidst the tour de force performances from Brando, and Pacino, as well as supporting play from Talia Shire, Robert Duvall and James Caan. Yet like virtually everything in the movie, Cazale was perfect, he made Fredo the useless loser, who just didnt fit in with a mafia family, but Cazale fit in perfectly amongst some of Hollywoods greatest performers. His impressive debut won him a role in another Francis Ford Coppola movie, The Conversation- which is probably the most obscure of his handful of credits- but dont let that deter you if you havent seen the movie, its a brilliant film in its own right. Next up was the sequel to The Godfather, which cemented his legacy as an actor; Michael Corleones changing from a war hero into ruthless a mob boss, coincided with the sad fact that change was something Fredo couldnt do. He was stuck as the perennial loser and John Cazale played it brilliantly, as Fredo tried and failed to prove his worth to his family. His final two roles maintained the quality of his already stellar body of work. He reunited with his friend and frequent collaborator Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon and then his final role was in the Vietnam War film, The Deer Hunter. His performance in this brilliant movie is all the more impressive, considering the poor health the actor was in at the time of filming. Cazale had been diagnosed with terminal cancer before filming began, and as such all of his scenes had to be filmed first to insure their completion. Despite being near death, he once again managed to turn in a captivating performance in the company of big name, high profile actors. Shortly after filming wrapped, John Cazale passed away at the age of 42.