A blond, often mustachioed, and scruffy character player best known as an integral member of John Cassavetes' informal clan of actors, Seymour Cassel received an early introduction to show business, traveling with a troupe of touring burlesque performers that included his mother. After living for several years in Panama, where his family owned a nightclub, he moved to NYC to pursue an acting career, studying with the American Theatre Wing and with Lee Strasberg's famed Actors Studio. Cassel met Cassavetes at the future director's 46th Street acting workshop in 1957, eventually teaching
