Gazzara, who studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in Manhattan, made his Broadway debut in 1953 in End As A Man. He then originated the role of Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He received Tony Award nominations for A Hatful of Rain, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and a double bill of Hughie and Duet, and also appeared on Broadway in such shows as The Night Circus, Strange Interlude, and Awake and Sing!.

He also worked frequently in film and television, including leading roles in the films of his good friend, John Cassavattes, including Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night. His many other films included Anatomy of a Murder, They All Laughed, and The Spanish Prisoner.

Gazzara starred in the 1960s television series Run for Your Life, He won an Emmy for Hysterical Blindness and co-starred in the groundbreaking telefilm An Early Frost with Aidan Quinn.

He is survived by his wife Elke Stuckmann, two daughters, and his brother, Anthony.