James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of The Godfather and to television audiences as both the dying football player in the classic weeper Brian’s Song and the casino boss in Las Vegas has died. He was 82.

His manager Matt DelPiano said he died on Wednesday. No cause was given and Caan’s family, who requests privacy, said that no further details would be released at this time.

Adam Sandler, who acted with him in Bulletproof and That’s My Boy wrote that he, “Loved him very much. Always wanted to be like him. So happy I got to know him. Never ever stopped laughing when I was around that man. His movies were best of the best.”

A football player at Michigan State University and a practical joker on production sets, Caan was a grinning, handsome performer with an athlete’s swagger and muscular build. He managed a long career despite drug problems, outbursts of temper and minor brushes with the law.