Alfredo James Pacino (/pəˈtʃiːnoʊ/ pə-CHEE-noh; Italian: [paˈtʃiːno]; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, during which he has earned many accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, achieving the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also received four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA, two Actor Awards, and was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2007, the National Medal of Arts in 2011, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.
Al Pacino | |
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 Pacino in 2016 | |
| Born | Alfredo James Pacino April 25, 1940 New York City, U.S. |
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Works | Full list |
| Partner(s) | Lyndall Hobbs (1989–1996) Beverly D'Angelo (1997–2003) Lucila Polak (2008–2018) |
| Children | 4, including Julie |
| Awards | Full list |
Pacino started acting in theater, ranging from off-off-Broadway to off-Broadway and out-of-town productions to Broadway. A method actor, Pacino studied at HB Studio and the Actors Studio where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg. Pacino went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman (1992). His other Oscar-nominated roles were in The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), ...And Justice for All (1979), Dick Tracy (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and The Irishman (2019). Pacino has starred in many other notable films, including The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Scarecrow (1973), Scarface (1983), Sea of Love (1989), The Godfather Part III (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Heat (1995), Donnie Brasco, The Devil's Advocate (both 1997), The Insider, Any Given Sunday (both 1999), Insomnia (2002), The Recruit (2003), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and House of Gucci (2021).
On television, Pacino has acted in multiple productions for HBO, including Angels in America (2003) and the Jack Kevorkian biopic You Don't Know Jack (2010), winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for each. Pacino starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters (2020–23). He has also had an extensive career on stage. He is a two-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actor in a Play in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969) and Best Actor in a Play for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977). He has also acted as Shylock in a 2004 feature film adaptation and 2010 stage production of The Merchant of Venice.
Pacino made his directorial debut with the documentary Looking for Richard (1996), for which he won a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. He directed and starred in Chinese Coffee (2000), Wilde Salomé (2011), and Salomé (2013). In 2006, he allowed for his likeness to be used in the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. He wrote his memoir Sonny Boy, which was published by Penguin Press in 2024. Since 1995, Pacino has been co-president of the Actors Studio (he was the co-artistic director from 1981 to 1983).
Early life and education
Alfredo James Pacino was born in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on April 25, 1940, the only child of Sicilian Italian-American parents Rose (née Gerardi) and Salvatore Pacino. His father had emigrated from San Fratello. His parents divorced when he was two years old. Following the separation, his mother took him to the South Bronx and they lived with his maternal grandparents, Kate and James Gerardi, who had emigrated from Corleone when young. Pacino's father moved to California to work as an insurance salesman and restaurateur in Covina, California. From the age of three or four, his mother would take him to the movies and he began to run the characters’ lines through his head. "Sonny Boy" was his mother's nickname for Pacino, taken from the popular song by Al Jolson, which she often sang to him.
During his teenage years, Pacino's friends called him "Sonny," "Pacchi," and "Pistachio" (derived from his favorite flavor of ice cream). He had ambitions to become a baseball player and was also nicknamed "The Actor". Pacino began smoking and drinking at age nine and used marijuana casually at age 13, but he abstained from hard drugs. His two closest friends died from drug abuse at the ages of 19 and 30. Growing up in the South Bronx, Pacino got into occasional fights and was considered something of a troublemaker at school. Pacino said that his mother saved his life and kept him off drugs.
He attended Herman Ridder Junior High School in Morrisania, but soon dropped out of most of his classes except for English. Blanche Rothstein, who was his junior high school teacher, saw his acting potential at a young age, casting him in school plays and having him read the Bible passages at their student assemblies. She notably visited their family's tenement apartment to speak with his grandmother that he was "made to do this," which Pacino credited as the turning point in his life. He subsequently attended the High School of Performing Arts, after gaining admission by audition. His mother disagreed with his decision, believing that "poor people don't do acting." After an argument, he left home.
To finance himself and purse his dreams, Pacino took low-paying jobs as a messenger, busboy, janitor, switchboard operator, usher, and postal clerk, as well as once working in the mailroom for Commentary. He acted in basement plays in New York's theatrical underground. As a teenager, he tried to join the membership organization Actors Studio but was rejected.. Instead, Pacino joined HB Studio, where he met acting teacher Charlie Laughton, who became his mentor and best friend. The studio let him go to classes for free, in exchange for cleaning the hallways and dance studios. At night, Pacino would practice Shakespeare soliloquies while wandering the streets. In this period, he was often unemployed or homeless, and sometimes slept on the street, in theaters, or at a friend's home.
In 1962, Pacino's mother died at the age of 43. The following year, his maternal grandfather also died. Pacino recalled it as the lowest point of his life and said, "I was 22 and the two most influential people in my life had gone, so that sent me into a tailspin."
After four years at HB Studio, Pacino successfully auditioned for the Actors Studio. Pacino studied "method acting" under acting coach Lee Strasberg, who appeared with Pacino in the films The Godfather Part II and in ...And Justice for All. During later interviews, he spoke about Strasberg and the Studio's effect on his career. "The Actors Studio meant so much to me in my life. Lee Strasberg hasn't been given the credit he deserves ... Next to Charlie, it sort of launched me. It really did. That was a remarkable turning point in my life. It was directly responsible for getting me to quit all those jobs and just stay acting." In another interview, he added, "It was exciting to work for him [Lee Strasberg] because he was so interesting when he talked about a scene or talked about people. One would just want to hear him talk, because things he would say, you'd never heard before ... He had such a great understanding ... he loved actors so much."
Career
1967–1971: Theater roles and film debut
In 1967, Pacino spent a season at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, performing in Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing! (his first major paycheck: US$125 a week); and in Jean-Claude Van Itallie's America Hurrah. He met actress Jill Clayburgh on this play. They had a five-year romance and moved back to New York City. In 1968, Pacino starred in Israel Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx at the Astor Place Theatre, playing Murph, a street punk. The play opened January 17, 1968, and ran for 177 performances; it was staged in a double bill with Horovitz's It's Called the Sugar Plum, starring Clayburgh. Pacino won an Obie Award for Best Actor for his role, with John Cazale winning for Best Supporting Actor and Horowitz for Best New Play.Martin Bregman saw the play and became Pacino's manager, a partnership that became fruitful in the years to come, as Bregman encouraged Pacino to do The Godfather, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon. About his stage career, Pacino said, "Martin Bregman discovered me ... I was 26, 25 ... he discovered me and became my manager. And that's why I'm here. I owe it to Marty, I really do".
Pacino took the production of The Indian Wants the Bronx to Italy for a performance at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. It was Pacino's first journey to Italy; he later recalled that "performing for an Italian audience was a marvelous experience". Pacino and Clayburgh were cast in "Deadly Circle of Violence", an episode of the ABC television series NYPD, premiering November 12, 1968. Clayburgh at the time was also appearing on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, playing the role of Grace Bolton. Her father would send the couple money each month to help with finances.
On February 25, 1969, Pacino made his Broadway debut in Don Petersen's Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? at the Belasco Theater, produced by A&P heir Huntington Hartford. It closed after 39 performances on March 29, 1969, but Pacino received rave reviews and won the Tony Award on April 20, 1969. Pacino continued performing onstage in the 1970s, winning a second Tony Award for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and performing the title role in Richard III. In the 1980s, Pacino again achieved critical success on stage while appearing in David Mamet's American Buffalo, for which Pacino was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Since 1990, Pacino's stage work has included revivals of Eugene O'Neill's Hughie, Oscar Wilde's Salome and in 2005 Lyle Kessler's Orphans. Pacino found acting enjoyable and realized he had a gift for it while studying at The Actors Studio. However, his early work was not financially rewarding. After his success on stage, Pacino made his film debut in 1969 with a brief appearance in Me, Natalie, an independent film starring Patty Duke. In 1970, Pacino signed with the talent agency Creative Management Associates (CMA). Pacino made his feature film debut portraying a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park (1971).
1972–1983: Stardom and acclaim
Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Michael Corleone in what became a blockbuster Mafia film, The Godfather (1972). Although Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, and the little-known Robert De Niro tried out for the part, Coppola selected Pacino, to the dismay of studio executives who wanted someone better known. Pacino's performance earned him an Academy Award nomination, and offered a prime example of his early acting style, described by Halliwell's Film Guide as "intense" and "tightly clenched". The longstanding rumor was that Pacino boycotted the Academy Award ceremony, insulted at being nominated for the Supporting Acting award as he had more screen time than co-star and Best Actor winner Marlon Brando—who also boycotted the awards, but for unrelated reasons. However, in Pacino's memoir released in 2024, he said it was appalling to learn about the rumor now and clarified that he skipped the ceremony due to his struggles with fame. He was terrified, and it overlapped with him working in Boston in the theater.
In 1973, Pacino co-starred in Scarecrow with Gene Hackman, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. That same year, Pacino was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor after starring in Serpico, based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of fellow officers. In 1974, Pacino reprised his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II, which was the first sequel to win the Best Picture Oscar; Pacino was nominated a third time for an Oscar, this second nomination for the Corleone role being in the lead category.Newsweek has described his performance in The Godfather Part II as "arguably cinema's greatest portrayal of the hardening of a heart".
In 1975, he enjoyed further success with the release of Dog Day Afternoon, based on the true story of bank robber John Wojtowicz. It was directed by Sidney Lumet, who had directed him in Serpico a few years earlier, and Pacino was again nominated for Best Actor. In 1977, Pacino starred as a race-car driver in Bobby Deerfield, directed by Sydney Pollack, and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his portrayal of the title role. His next film was the courtroom drama ...And Justice for All. Pacino was lauded by critics for his wide range of acting abilities, and nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for a fourth time. He lost out that year to Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer—a role that Pacino had declined. During the 1970s, Pacino had five Oscar nominations, including four for Best Actor for his performances in Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and ...And Justice for All.
Pacino's career slumped in the early 1980s; his appearances in the controversial Cruising, a film that provoked protests from New York's gay community, and the comedy-drama Author! Author!, were critically panned. However, his performance in Scarface (1983), directed by Brian De Palma, proved to be a career highlight and a defining role. Upon its initial release, the film was critically panned due to violent content, but later received critical acclaim. The film performed well at the box office, grossing over US$45 million domestically. Pacino earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role as Cuban drug lord Tony Montana.
In 1983, Pacino became a major donor for The Mirror Theater Ltd, alongside Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman, matching a grant from Laurance Rockefeller. The men were inspired to invest by their connection with Lee Strasberg, as Strasberg's daughter-in-law Sabra Jones was the founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Mirror. In 1985, Pacino offered the company his production of Hughie by Eugene O'Neill, but the company was unable to do it at the time due to the small cast. In 1985, Pacino worked on his personal project, The Local Stigmatic, a 1969 off-Broadway play by the English writer Heathcote Williams. He starred in the play, remounting it with director David Wheeler and the Theater Company of Boston in a 50-minute film version. The film was not released theatrically, but was later released as part of the Pacino: An Actor's Vision box set in 2007.
1984–1999: Established career
His 1985 film Revolution about a fur trapper during the American Revolutionary War, was a commercial and critical failure, which Pacino blamed on a rushed production, resulting in a four-year hiatus from films. At this time Pacino returned to the stage. He mounted workshop productions of Crystal Clear, National Anthems and other plays; he appeared in Julius Caesar in 1988 in producer Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. Pacino remarked on his hiatus from film: "I remember back when everything was happening, '74, '75, doing The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on stage and reading that the reason I'd gone back to the stage was that my movie career was waning! That's been the kind of ethos, the way in which theater's perceived, unfortunately." Pacino returned to film in 1989's Sea of Love, when he portrayed a detective hunting a serial killer who finds victims through the singles column in a newspaper. The film earned solid reviews. Pacino received an Academy Award nomination for playing Big Boy Caprice in the box office hit Dick Tracy in 1990, of which critic Roger Ebert described Pacino as "the scene-stealer". Later in the year he followed this up in a return to one of his most famous characters, Michael Corleone, in The Godfather Part III (1990).
In 1991, Pacino starred in Frankie and Johnny with Michelle Pfeiffer, who co-starred with Pacino in Scarface. Pacino played a recently paroled cook who begins a relationship with a waitress (Pfeiffer) in the diner where they work. It was adapted by Terrence McNally from his own off-Broadway play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (1987), that featured Kenneth Welsh and Kathy Bates. The film received mixed reviews, although Pacino later said he enjoyed playing the part.Janet Maslin in The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Pacino has not been this uncomplicatedly appealing since his Dog Day Afternoon days, and he makes Johnny's endless enterprise in wooing Frankie a delight. His scenes alone with Ms. Pfeiffer have a precision and honesty that keep the film's maudlin aspects at bay." For his portrayal of the irascible, blind U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Martin Brest's Scent of a Woman (1992) Pacino won the Academy Award for Best Actor next year. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Glengarry Glen Ross, making Pacino the first male actor ever to receive two acting nominations for two movies in the same year, and to win for the lead role.
Pacino starred alongside Sean Penn in the crime drama Carlito's Way in 1993, in which he played Carlito Brigante, a gangster released from prison with the help of his corrupt lawyer (Penn) and vows to go straight. Pacino starred in Michael Mann's Heat (1995), in which he and Robert De Niro appeared on-screen together for the first time (though both Pacino and De Niro starred in The Godfather Part II, they did not share any scenes). In 1996, Pacino starred in his theatrical docudrama Looking for Richard, a performance of selected scenes of William Shakespeare's Richard III and a broader examination of Shakespeare's continuing role and relevance in popular culture. The cast brought together for the performance included Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, and Winona Ryder.
Pacino played Satan in the supernatural thriller The Devil's Advocate (1997) which co-starred Keanu Reeves. The film was a success at the box office, taking US$150 million worldwide.Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times, "The satanic character is played by Pacino with relish bordering on glee." In 1997's Donnie Brasco, Pacino played gangster "Lefty" in the true story of undercover FBI agent Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) and his work in bringing down the Mafia from the inside. In 1999, Pacino starred as 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman in the multi-Oscar nominated The Insider opposite Russell Crowe, and in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday.
2000–2018: Television roles and return to Broadway
Pacino won three Golden Globes since 2000; the first being the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001 for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2000, Pacino starred alongside Jerry Orbach in a low-budget film adaptation of Ira Lewis' play Chinese Coffee, which was released to film festivals. Shot almost exclusively as a one-on-one conversation between two main characters, the project took nearly three years to complete and was funded entirely by Pacino.Chinese Coffee was included with Pacino's two other rare films he was involved in producing, The Local Stigmatic and Looking for Richard, on a special DVD box set titled Pacino: An Actor's Vision, which was released in 2007. Pacino produced prologues and epilogues for the discs containing the films.
In October 2002, Pacino starred in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui for the National Actor's Theater and Complicite. Directed by Simon McBurney, the production starred a host of Hollywood names, including John Goodman, Charles Durning, Tony Randall, Steve Buscemi, Chazz Palminteri, Paul Giamatti, Jacqueline McKenzie, Billy Crudup, Lothaire Bluteau, Dominic Chianese, and Sterling K. Brown. The production was a critical success in which "Pacino grabs and holds the attention like a coiled spring about to snap. He is all brooding menace and crocodile grimace, butchering his way to the top with unnervingly sinister glee." Director Christopher Nolan worked with Pacino on Insomnia, a remake of the Norwegian film of the same name, co-starring Robin Williams. Newsweek stated that "he [Pacino] can play small as rivetingly as he can play big, that he can implode as well as explode". The film and Pacino's performance were well received, gaining a favorable rating of 93 percent on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The film did moderately well at the box office, taking in $113 million worldwide. His next film, S1m0ne, however, did not receive much critical praise or box office success. He played a publicist in People I Know (2002), a small film that received little attention despite Pacino's well-received performance.
Rarely taking a supporting role since his commercial breakthrough, he accepted a small part in the critical and box office flop Gigli, in 2003, as a favor to director Martin Brest.The Recruit, released in 2003, featured Pacino as a CIA recruiter and co-stars Colin Farrell. The film received mixed reviews, and has been described by Pacino as something he "personally couldn't follow". Pacino next starred as lawyer Roy Cohn in the 2003 HBO miniseries Angels in America, an adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name. For this performance, Pacino won his third Golden Globe, for Best Performance by an Actor, in 2004.
Pacino starred as Shylock in Michael Radford's 2004 film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Critics praised him for bringing compassion and depth to a character traditionally played as a villainous caricature. In Two for the Money, Pacino portrays a sports gambling agent and mentor for Matthew McConaughey, alongside Rene Russo. The film was released on October 8, 2005, to mixed reviews. Desson Thomson wrote in The Washington Post, "Al Pacino has played the mentor so many times, he ought to get a kingmaker's award ... the fight between good and evil feels fixed in favor of Hollywood redemption." Pacino turned down an offer to reprise his role as Michael Corleone in the computer game version of The Godfather (2006). As a result, Electronic Arts was not permitted to use Pacino's likeness or voice in the game, although his character does appear in it. He did allow his likeness to appear in the video game adaptation of 1983's Scarface, the quasi-sequel Scarface: The World is Yours. On October 20, 2006, the American Film Institute named Pacino the recipient of the 35th AFI Life Achievement Award. On November 22, 2006, the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College Dublin awarded Pacino the Honorary Patronage of the Society.
Pacino starred in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Thirteen (2007), alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, and Andy García, as the villain Willy Bank, a casino tycoon targeted by Danny Ocean and his crew. The film received generally favorable reviews.88 Minutes was released on April 18, 2008, in the United States, after having been released in various other countries in 2007. The film co-starred Alicia Witt and was critically panned, although critics found fault with the plot, and not Pacino's acting. In Righteous Kill, Pacino and Robert De Niro co-star as New York detectives searching for a serial killer. The film was released to theaters on September 12, 2008. While it was an anticipated return for the two stars, it was not well received by critics.
Pacino returned to the stage in the summer of 2010, playing Shylock in the Shakespeare in the Park production, The Merchant of Venice. The acclaimed production moved to Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in October, earning US$1 million at the box office in its first week. The performance also garnered him a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play. Pacino played Jack Kevorkian in an HBO Films biopic titled You Don't Know Jack, which premiered April 2010. The film is about the life and work of the physician-assisted suicide advocate. The performance earned Pacino his second Emmy Award for lead actor and his fourth Golden Globe award. He co-starred as himself in the 2011 comedy film Jack and Jill. The film was panned by critics, and Pacino "won" the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor at the 32nd ceremony. Elaborating on his decision to join the cast of the film, he stated: "It came at a time in my life that I needed it, because it was after I found out I had no more money. My accountant [Kenneth I. Starr] was in prison, and I needed something quickly. So I took (Jack and Jill.)"
He was presented with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award on September 4, 2011, prior to the premiere of Wilde Salomé, a 2011 American documentary-drama film written, directed by and starring Pacino. Its US premiere on the evening of March 21, 2012, before a full house at the 1,400-seat Castro Theatre in San Francisco's Castro District, marked the 130th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's visit to San Francisco. The event was a benefit for the GLBT Historical Society. Pacino, who plays the role of Herod in the film, describes it as his "most personal project ever". In February 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Pacino the National Medal of Arts. In September 2012, Deadline Hollywood reported that Pacino would play the former Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno in the television film Paterno based on a 2012 biography by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.Paterno premiered on HBO on April 7, 2018. Pacino starred in the 30th-anniversary Broadway revival of David Mamet's play, Glengarry Glen Ross, which ran from October 2012 to January 20, 2013. He also starred in a 2013 HBO biographical picture about record producer Phil Spector's murder trial, titled Phil Spector.
In 2015, Pacino took the title role in the comedy-drama Danny Collins. His performance as an aging rock star garnered him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination. He starred on Broadway in China Doll, a play written for him by Mamet, which opened on December 5, 2015, and closed on January 21, 2016, after 97 performances. The previews were done in October 2015.
In 2016, Pacino received the Kennedy Center Honor. The tribute included remarks by his former costars Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Bobby Cannavale and Chris O'Donnell. Speaking about the possibility of retiring, Pacino said: "Acting, especially if you've done it as long as I have, it becomes such a part of your nature you rarely ever think about quitting or anything like that."
2019–present
Pacino starred alongside Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released on July 26, 2019. Later in 2019, Pacino played Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa, alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, in Martin Scorsese's Netflix film The Irishman, based on the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. This was the first time Pacino was directed by Scorsese, and he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 92nd Academy Awards—his ninth to date. Pacino's performance received positive reviews. Peter Bradshaw described it as "glorious" in The Guardian.Justin Chang wrote, "De Niro, Pesci and Pacino are at the top of their game, in part because they aren't simply rehashing the iconic gangster types they've played before."
In February 2020, Pacino starred as Meyer Offerman, a fictional Nazi hunter, in the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters. This is Pacino's first television series since Angels in America (2003). Hunters was renewed for a second season in August 2020. In 2021, Pacino played Aldo Gucci in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci. The film received mixed to positive reviews, with Pacino's performance being highlighted as a standout, along with Lady Gaga's and Jared Leto's. That same year, he played the lead defense attorney in American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally. In 2023, Pacino returned to the screen in a supporting role by playing thief Xavier Crane in Michael Keaton's Knox Goes Away.
In 2024, Pacino starred in Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, a film about Amedeo Modigliani, which he co-produced alongside Johnny Depp and Barry Navidi. The film is based on a play by Dennis McIntyre, which was previously adapted for the 2004 film of the same name.Principal photography commenced in September 2023. On March 10, 2024, Pacino presented the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards, the third time he presented the Academy Award for Best Picture (first in 1995 with Robert de Niro and second in 1997). On October 15, 2024, Pacino released his bestselling memoir titled Sonny Boy with Penguin Press that covers his life from a challenging childhood in the South Bronx to becoming an iconic actor.
Pacino appeared in five independent films in 2025. The first was the horror film The Ritual, in which he played priest Theophilus Riesinger. The second was Billy Knight, a coming-of-age drama co-starring Charlie Heaton and Diana Silvers. In September 2025, he played minor roles in two films: Dead Man's Wire and In the Hand of Dante, both of which made their world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. The first film acquired by Row K Entertainment featured him as a wealthy mortgage broker, described by co-star Cary Elwes as an intentional, "Easter egg," and a "full-circle moment," referencing his notable performance in Dog Day Afternoon. His cameo in the second film, acquired by Netflix, was praised by Caryn James of The Hollywood Reporter as "among the film’s sharpest and best." Pacino's last 2025 film participation was Nic Pizzolatto's Easy's Waltz. In the same year, he became the first movie star to meet with Pope Leo XIV. He also appeared alongside Robert De Niro in Moncler's "Warmer Together" fashion campaign.
In 2026, Pacino's locker room monologue from Any Given Sunday was used in a national campaign for Pfizer.
Other ventures
Philanthrophy
Pacino has participated in various benefit activities to raise funds for theater companies and arts programs. In 1983, he became one of the major donors for The Mirror Theater Ltd in response to a matching grant from Laurance S. Rockefeller. In 1992, he appeared in the double-bill of Salome and Chinese Coffee, which served as a $50-a-show fundraiser for the Circle in the Square Theatre to reduce its debt and was a successful run. In 1996, he continued his support for the same theater by directing and starring in the revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie production. In 2019, he joined Geoffrey Rush for Simply Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, a one-night-only staged benefit reading to support the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. In 2020, he participated in another staged benefit reading for David Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Proceeds supported the National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations and the SCLA's Veterans in Art program. In 2022, he did a one-night-only fundraiser, Al Pacino Live on Stage, featuring a career retrospective and Q&A session, to support SCLA.
Pacino has also appeared in public service announcements and campaigns for social causes and charitable initiatives. In 2001, alongside other actors, he volunteered in the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon for the victims and families impacted by the September 11 attacks. In 2005, he was involved with the ONE Campaign, which focuses on fighting extreme poverty, hunger, and AIDS, through their Make Poverty History television and print campaigns with other personalities. In 2012, he joined public figures in appealing for financial support for Hurricane Sandy relief in a PSA. In 2023, Pacino agreed with the Halftime Campaign, releasing a new version of his famous ‘inch by inch’ locker room speech from the film Any Given Sunday, which highlighted the importance of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals reaching the halfway mark.
In 2009, Pacino received the "Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award," the highest honor given by the Southern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation for his history of charitable giving and lifelong contributions and support to the foundation's mission to find a cure. Pacino, who has supported many causes anonymously, spoke of its importance in a rare interview with CBS News: "I don't think people are aware of how it strikes children and how it manifests," adding that if speaking out can help those with arthritis, then it's worth it.
In 2020, Pacino and many Broadway notables supported the virtual Christmas Day telethon to raise funds for the West Bank Café and its famed downstairs venue, the Laurie Beechman Theatre in danger of closing due to the pandemic.
In 2024, Pacino revealed in his memoir Sonny Boy that he felt that the 1980 film Cruising was "exploitative" of the LGBTQ+ community after seeing the finished product. He did not promote the film and anonymously donated his earnings from it to an irrevocable trust fund for charitable purposes.
Production company
Pacino was the owner of Chal Productions, a production shingle for theater and film based in New York, co-founded with his friend and mentor Charlie Laughton. Founded roughly two decades prior to 2001, it operates as a flexible development company adjusting its focus based on Pacino's work. Its following credits included Looking for Richard, Chinese Coffee, People I Know, and Wilde Salomé.
Speaking engagements
Pacino made several appearances as a guest and keynote speaker at universities and film schools, often sharing his acting expertise and reflections on his career. In 1999, he visited Yale University to conduct a master class for the Yale Dramatic Association, attend a question-and-answer session following screenings of his films, The Insider and Looking for Richard, and receive an award in recognition of his contribution to acting. In 2006, he went to Trinity College Dublin to accept the honorary patronage of the University Philosophical Society for his contribution to theater and for bringing the work of Oscar Wilde to Broadway audiences. He gave a speech, including a dramatic monologue, followed by a Q&A session with students. On October 16, 2010, he was the distinguished speaker at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend to a sold-out crowd of 4,800. In 2014, he appeared as the guest speaker to share stories and experience with the New York Film Academy students after a special advanced screening of his film, The Humbling and participated in an intimate Q&A with them.
Reception and legacy
Al Pacino is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the realm of cinema and theater. Known for his "signature intensity," "tightly clenched," and "explosive" performances, he gained a reputation as a titan of the New Hollywood era. Famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg described him, saying, "Some actors play characters. Al Pacino becomes them. He assumes their identity so completely that he continues to live a role long after a play or movie is over." Pacino, however, believes that he is not strictly a method actor but engages in off-script improvisational exercises. The director of Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico, Sidney Lumet, said, "Everything stems from some incredible core inside of him. I wouldn't think of trying to get near it, because it would be like getting somewhere near the center of the earth. What comes out of his core is so uniquely his own."The Godfather trilogy director Francis Ford Coppola said, “His intelligence is what I noted first. He knows how to use his gifts [...] He uses what he has, this striking magnetic quality, this smoldering ambiance.”Marcia Lucas, who was tasked with editing multiple screen tests thought Pacino "undresses you with his eyes.” Film critic Tom Shone in a Prospect feature has stated, "If the power of a Pacino performance comes from his voice, the subtlety is often to be found in his eyes. He makes only fleeting eye contact with his fellow actors—even before Scent of a Woman, where he played a blind man—his gaze, in close-up, drifting around the screen, allowing the audience alone to witness the crackle of panic or premeditation to be found crossing his face. He has always had a gut instinct for where the camera is. He has the peripheral vision of a deer." On Scarface's continuing resonance with audiences decades after its release, Glenn Kenny said, "Pacino’s performance is larger than life and so compelling that it just sucks you in."
On his approach to work, Bobby Deerfield director Sydney Pollack said, "He does not ask broadstroke questions about what the man wants out of life. Once he starts on the track of a character, it's like a dog picking up a scent.” His work process is intuitive and internal. According to Joyce Carol Oates, Pacino is a driven and impassioned artist that is unpredictable and unexpected. She added that his kind of acting is indistinguishable from real life.David Mamet compares Pacino’s excavations of his characters to the way Louis Armstrong played jazz: “He’s incapable of doing it the same way twice.”Heat director Michael Mann thought of Pacino as like the great painter Picasso, who creates his art by "Staring at an empty canvas for many hours in intense concentration. And then there’s a series of brushstrokes. And a piece of the character is alive.”
I hope the perception is that I’m an actor, I never intended to be a movie star.
Life’s on the wire, man. That’s my acting, my life. When I work, I’m on the wire. When I’m going for it. When I’m taking chances. I want to take chances. I want to fly and fail. I want to bang into something when I do it, because it’s how I know I’m alive. It’s what’s kept me alive.
Off screen, Charlie Laughton, Pacino's longtime closest advisor, nicknamed him "the wild square" because of the contrast between his private and public lives; bohemian on the outside and traditional on the inside. Although most actors capitalize on or adapt to intense public attention, Pacino found it challenging, stating, “Some of this mystique is a pain.” Pacino did not have a press agent for a long time that stemmed from his dislike for the spotlight or being a celebrity. One of his biographers, Lawrence Grobel, said that Pacino is a "notoriously private" figure, but his interviews revealed a man more concerned with the process of acting than the fruits of his labor, aiming for authenticity than commercial success.The New York Times wrote, "Pacino is the sort of nervy actor who's prepared to go all the way down—or right over the top—if he thinks that's what a part requires. Out of the spotlight, however, his shyness is the stuff of legend." In late 2000, Pacino asked to postpone his induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame, in part because he plans to do more theater work in the future. He told organizer Terry Hodge Taylor that while he appreciates the recognition, he believes it is premature and he had not been active enough in theater recently to warrant the honor. Despite his request to defer, Playbill reported that he was a clear front-runner in the vote by the American Theatre Critics Association and other industry members.
Pacino is 2001's recipient of the Golden Globes' prestigious Cecil B. DeMille career achievement award, honoring his outstanding contribution to the world of entertainment. In 2003, British television viewers voted Pacino as the Greatest Movie Star of All Time in a poll by Channel 4, and he is included on VH1's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time."
In 2007, the American Film Institute awarded Pacino with a lifetime achievement award. "His career inspires audiences and artists alike," said Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI board of trustees, in a statement. In 2011, he received the National Medal of Arts, and subsequently, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016, both bestowed upon him by President Barack Obama. The citation reads as follows: "Al Pacino calls the theater his flashlight. It's how he finds himself, where he sees truth. And since Al first hit Broadway in 1969, his singular talent has been the gold standard for acting [...] Through it all, Al has always cared more for his flashlight than the spotlight. He says he's still getting used to the idea of being an icon, but his gift for all the inspiration and intensity that he brings to his roles is that he lets us into what his characters are feeling. And for that, we are extraordinarily grateful." The tribute included narration of his life by Meryl Streep, recitations of Shakespeare by Laurence Fishburne and Lily Rabe, a re-enactment of the tango scene in Scent of a Woman by Chris O'Donnell and Gabrielle Anwar, Kevin Spacey's impersonation of the actor, and remarks by Sean Penn.
A number of Pacino's films have become classics of American cinema, with four of his pictures (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scarface) selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. His remarkable character portrayals have been featured on American Film Institute 100 Years... series, with two on the list of the 100 greatest screen characters (Frank Serpico in the hero and Michael Corleone in the villain categories) and with three on the list of the top 100 quotations in American cinema ("Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" by Michael Corleone; "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" by Tony Montana; and "Attica! Attica!" by Sonny Wortzik). The British film magazine Empire selected Michael Corleone and Tony Montana as two of the greatest movie characters of all time as voted by their readers worldwide.Time Out magazine's list of 100 best movies included three of Pacino's films, as chosen by actors in the industry.
In popular culture
Pacino has been referenced extensively in popular culture largely due to his roles, which have generated lasting catchphrases and made him a cultural touchstone for grit, power, and intensity. Numerous famous television programs and films acknowledged his level of fame, such as, Friends where Joey Tribbiani idolizes the actor and almost acted as his butt double; Only Fools and Horses episode "Strangers on the Shore...!" where Trigger mentioned him with the line, "What with global warming and Al Pacino."; Seinfeld episode "The Soup Nazi" where Elaine impersonated his Scent of a Woman performance with "Hoo-ah!," telling the stern soup stand owner that he looked like Pacino; and The Big Bang Theory episode "The Love Spell Potential" where Howard Wolowitz copied his voice from And Justice for All. Referencing The Godfather, among others, Billy Madison (1995) parodied the famous line spoken by him: "I know it was you. You broke my heart."; the main character from You've Got Mail (1998) was inspired by Michael Corleone as a modern business owner to justify his business expansion; Khaled Hosseini's 2003 novel The Kite Runner described the main character, Amir, recovering from jaw injury talking like "Al Pacino from the first Godfather movie"; Modern Family's "Fulgencio" episode that recreated the film's Baptism scene and Michael Corleone’s cold stare as 'he takes care of business'; and Jay-Z's 2017 song "Family Feud" featuring Beyoncé from his album 4:44 that referenced him with the line, "I'll watch Godfather, I miss that whole shit / My consciousness was Michael's common sense."
From Serpico, among others, included the films The Cop in Blue Jeans (1976) and Natural Born Killers (1994) referenced by the main characters; Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Boogie Nights (1997), where both the Serpico posters are featured in the rooms of the main characters; and Get Shorty (1995), where it was mentioned. Television programs included the Corner Gas (2004) episode "The Taxman," where local cops Davis and Karen talked about the film, and Karen tried to rent it at the video store; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2007) episode "Bums: Making a Mess All Over the City," where Charlie imitated Pacino's performance after the gang bought an out-of-commission police car; and El ministerio del tiempo (2016) episode as the reason for the nickname of one of its main characters, "Pacino." The British band Prolapse had a song called "Serpico" on their debut album Pointless Walks to Dismal Places.
From Dog Day Afternoon, the shout "Attica! Attica!" delivered by Pacino's Sonny Wortzik character was reproduced in multiple films and television series, including Saturday Night Fever, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, SpongeBob SquarePants, The League, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, among others. Actor Hank Azaria also referenced Pacino's voice for the voice of Moe from the animated sitcom The Simpsons.
Scarface is considered a staple in hip-hop culture. Artists such as Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Future, August D., Nicki Minaj and others paid homage to Tony Montana, with rap group Mobb Deep going as far as to sample music from the film on their 1996 song “G.O.D., Pt. 3” and Rapper Tony Yayo's stage name referencing Tony Montana's first name and a moment in the movie where Tony tells Chi-Chi (Ángel Salazar) to "get the yeyo."Drake sampled a monologue by Pacino in the film and included it on the song "Daylight" from his album For All the Dogs. Outside hip-hop, Bob Dylan's 2020 song "My Own Version of You" from his album Rough and Rowdy Ways referenced it with the line, "I'll take the Scarface Pacino and the Godfather Brando / Mix 'em up in a tank and get a robot commando." The famous line "Say hello to my little friend!" spoken by Pacino was often referenced in media, including Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Ghostbusters, Kick-Ass, Chillerama, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Shark Tale, The Boondocks, Kenan & Kel, Angie Tribeca, and South Park, among others.
His own persona is widely imitated by artists, such as, Bill Hader and Jay Mohr. A diverse range of artists who cited Pacino as an influence or inspiration included Conan O'Brien, Gary Oldman, Michael Imperioli, Jeremy Allen White, Jeffrey Wright, Nick Hornby, Martin Short, Jessica Chastain, and Winona Ryder among others.Johnny Depp featured Pacino in his debut "Friends & Heroes" art series in 2022, a collection of portraits celebrating people who inspired him.Kevin Spacey, who honored Pacino during his awarding of the Kennedy Center Honors said: “The reason we all love to do an impersonation of Al Pacino is because he has created characters that are unforgettable, and that’s because for Al Pacino it’s not just business, it’s craft.”
Personal life
Relationships and children
Pacino had a relationship with his The Godfather Trilogy co-star Diane Keaton. Their on-again, off-again relationship ended after the filming of The Godfather Part III. He has had relationships with Jill Clayburgh, Tuesday Weld, Marthe Keller, Veruschka von Lehndorff, Kathleen Quinlan, Lyndall Hobbs, Penelope Ann Miller, and Meital Dohan. Pacino had a ten-year relationship with Argentine actress Lucila Polak from 2008 to 2018.
Pacino has four children. The eldest, Julie Marie (born October 16, 1989), is his daughter with acting coach Jan Tarrant. He has twins conceived through IVF, son Anton James and daughter Olivia Rose (born January 25, 2001), with actress Beverly D'Angelo, with whom he had a relationship from 1997 until 2003. He has a son, Roman (born June 15, 2023), with producer Noor Alfallah, with whom he had a relationship from 2022 to 2024. Pacino, at age 83, is one of the oldest fathers on record. He has never been married.
Health and addiction
Pacino has admitted to abusing alcohol and sedatives early in his career, partly because he found his sudden rise to fame after The Godfather difficult to cope with. He achieved sobriety in 1977. In his memoir, Pacino stated that he has never taken cocaine in his life and avoided hard drugs after seeing his closest childhood friends die of overdoses.
Pacino said in 2024 that he almost died of COVID-19 in 2020; his near-death experience has led him to doubt the existence of an afterlife.
Acting credits and accolades
Pacino is one of the few performers to have received the Triple Crown of Acting. He has won and been nominated for many awards during his acting career, including nine Oscar nominations (winning one) and five BAFTA nominations (winning one) for his film work; 19 Golden Globe nominations (winning four) and seven SAG Award nominations (winning two), each recognizing both his film and TV work; three Primetime Emmy Award nominations (winning two) solely for his work on television; and three Tony Award nominations (winning two) for his stage work.
Pacino has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the following performances:
- 45th Academy Awards (1973): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, for The Godfather
- 46th Academy Awards (1974): Best Actor, nomination, for Serpico
- 47th Academy Awards (1975): Best Actor, nomination, for The Godfather Part II
- 48th Academy Awards (1976): Best Actor, nomination, for Dog Day Afternoon
- 52nd Academy Awards (1980): Best Actor, nomination, for ...And Justice for All
- 63rd Academy Awards (1991): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, for Dick Tracy
- 65th Academy Awards (1993): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, for Glengarry Glen Ross
- 65th Academy Awards (1993): Best Actor, win, for Scent of a Woman
- 92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, for The Irishman
Pacino has also received numerous honorary awards, such as the Venice Film Festival's Career Golden Lion in 1994 and the Glory to the Filmmaker Award and Queer Lion for his Wilde Salomé film work in 2011; Lifetime Achievement Awards given by both the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Gotham Awards in 1996; the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001; the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2007; the National Medal of Arts in 2011; the Goldene Kamera's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013; and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016.
See also
- List of Italian-American actors
- List of people from New York City
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories
- List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
- List of Golden Globe winners