Seymour Cassel (1935-2019) was an American actor, best known for his long and fruitful artistic collaboration with director John Cassavetes, who directed him in seminal independent films such as *Shadows* (1959), *Faces* (1968), and *Minnie and Moskowitz* (1971). For his intense performance in *Faces*, he received his only Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which established his career. He became a prolific and versatile character actor, working in dozens of both mainstream and auteur-driven productions. A second important phase of his career was marked by his collaboration with director Wes Anderson, for whom he acted in the cult films *Rushmore* (1998), *The Royal Tenenbaums* (2001), and *The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou* (2004). Among his other accolades is the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for his performance in *In the Soup* (1992), which confirmed his status as an icon of American independent cinema.