John Cassavetes was a Greek-American actor, director, and screenwriter known for his influential work in independent cinema.
John’s notable films include Shadows (1959), Gloria (1980), Love Shreams (1984), and Big Trouble (1986).
Highlights
- John Cassavetes was a notable Hollywood actor, director, and screenwriter.
- John is regarded as one of the pioneers of independent cinema. In the 1960s, he invested in a personal budget for making films.
- John’s son, Nick, has an estimated net worth of $40 million, and his wife, Gena, holds an estimated net worth of $10 million.
Before working as a writer and director in the film industry, John began his career as an actor. Initially, he played bit-parts in B-pictures and television serials.
John Cassavetes started to gain notoriety in 1955 for his roles as a vicious kil*er in the Night Holds Terror and a juvenile delinquent in the live TV drama Crime in the Streets.
Moreover, Cassavetes was crucial in developing improvisational filmmaking techniques, often exploring raw emotional themes and characters.
John Cassavetes Used To Make Films With His Independent Investments
Gena Rowlands‘s husband, John Cassavetes, is one of the pioneers of modern American independent cinema. John often produced and distributed his films with his own money.
Though John Cassavetes’s net worth isn’t explicitly available, we can estimate it based on his movie budgets and box office earnings.
In the 1950s, John was more involved in acting and workshops. At that time, he barely got any lead roles and worked as a side character. The income for an aspiring actor of that time was not satisfactory.
In 1959, John debuted as writer and director of the movie Shadow. It was made on a $40,000 budget at that time.
If there is an afterlife, I hope Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes are making movies together there. Rest in peace to one of the greatest actresses of all time ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kh4ly3JLYU
— Nasha (@Nasha_Foster) August 15, 2024
Similarly, In 1961, Rowlands’s partner John signed a seven-year deal with Paramount, a popular media distribution company Paramount Pictures.
The contract was rumored to be $800,000. While at Paramount Pictures, Cassavetes made two pictures, Too Late Blues and A Child Is Waiting.
Furthermore, in 1968, John directed and independently financed the movie Faces, with a total budget estimated at $275,000.
Similarly, John Cassavetes financed other movies: A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night. Their budgets averaged around $1.5 million.
Most of Cassavetes’s films are owned by Faces Distribution and co-owned by his wife, Gena Rowlands, and Julian Schlossberg. Thus, the accumulated budget is directly associated with Gena.
As of [current year], John’s wife, Gena Rowlands, had accumulated a net worth of about $10 million.
Similarly, John’s son, Nick Cassavetes, followed his father’s career pathway as an actor, director, and screenwriter. As of [current year], he has a net worth of $40 million.
Additional Information
- John Cassavetes married American actress Gena Rowlands in 1954. The couple had a son, Nick, and two daughters, Alexandra and Zoe.
- John was a long-time alcoholic, and he died of cirrhosis at the age of 59 on February 3, 1989.
- At the time of his death, John had a collection of more than 40 unproduced screenplays and three unproduced plays, some of which were later produced by the associated production and distribution house.
