Seymour Cassel, Lead Character Actor

Fresh Air | By Terry Gross

Published March 27, 2006 at 11:00 AM EST

Actor Seymour Cassel has roles in the new TV series Heist and the film Lonesome Jim. Cassel, who comes from a showbiz family, has been acting in film and TV since 1959. His mother worked in Burlesque, and Cassel grew up backstage, amid chorus girls and sequins.

In his career, Cassel has worked with generations of talented directors, from John Cassavetes to Wes Anderson.

In the 1960s, Cassel received an Oscar nomination for his work in Cassavetes' classic film Faces. Cassel has appeared in dozens of films, including Anderson's The Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore, and In the Soup, directed by Alexandre Rockwell.

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