Right place right time and sadly died, although he was a good actor and was well liked and respected. The latter goes a long way.
Nothing is as it seems so I wouldn't judge by what you think you see.

Yeah, and Tommy Lee Jones got Meryl Streep in her decline. Meryl Streep NEVER turned me on.
"You can't HANDLE the truth!" Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men."

He got Meryl Streep in her prime that is pretty lucky.

I think both.

Damned good!

I recently read an interview with Michael Fassbender who names John Cazale as his favorite actor.
Cazale is leaving his mark on today's best younger actors. That says something about his legacy.

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I never heard of someone dying at 42 of cancer being called "extremely lucky".

Good Actor or Lucky? Well its both. I think great actors are always offered the best movies. John Cazale was lucky that he was around when the movies that he was in were being made! If he came along today he would of had a harder time because they don't make movies like "Dog Day" or "The Godfather" with good actors. If Dog Day was mede today if would star "Ben Afleck" and "Ben Stiller" and the film would SUCK! Ben Afleck can act he can direct but his acting is bad.

He was SO good, I failed to recognize it until he was dead. Then, I watched his movies, again, only more closely. Then, it suddenly hit me! He made every single movie he was in, BETTER!! R.I.P.
"You can't HANDLE the truth!" Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men."

Damned good, no luck with Cazale. Check out the documentary I Knew It Was You. The greatest actors of our generation pay tribute to Cazale and praise him for his abilities. They claim they still haven't worked with someone as good as he was.
The ones paying tribute were of course: De Niro, Pacino, Buscemi, Streep, Sam Rockwell, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman