Michael Sarrazin, a charismatic actor who starred opposite the likes of Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand and Paul Newman in a flurry of highly regarded films in the 1960s and 1970s, died on
Sunday in his native Canada after a brief battle with cancer, his spokesman confirmed. He was 70.
The Quebec-born actor shot to fame in 1969's 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?' playing an aimless actor wannabe alongside Fonda in a role that lit up the screen, but carried few lines.
"You could have paid me a dollar a week to work on that," he told The Toronto Star in 1994. "It hits you bolt upright; I still get really intense when I watch it."
He followed that up two years later in the Newman hit 'Sometimes a Great Notion' and a string of successful films, including 'Harry in Your Pocket' and Streisand's 'For Pete's Sake.'
His last high profile role came in 1976's 'The Gumball Rally.'
His career may have taken a whole different path if he'd been allowed to take the role of Joe Buck in the iconic 'Midnight Cowboy' in 1968. Universal vetoed the casting and went with Jon Voight instead.
As the 1980s rolled around, his roles became more minor and he transitioned to a mix of film and television, including 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents.'
Sarrazin is survived by two daughters, a brother and a sister, all from Montreal.
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