Al Pacino American Actor Born 1940 in Manhattan

Al Pacino is an American actor, director and producer. He was born Alfredo James Pacino on 25 April 1940 in Manhattan and has worked in theatre, film and television. He is best known for playing Michael Corleone in the Godfather films and for a series of crime dramas in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Early life

Pacino was born in the East Harlem part of Manhattan and was the only child of Sicilian American parents. After his parents separated he was raised mainly in the South Bronx, in the home of his maternal grandparents. He studied acting at the High School of Performing Arts in New York, listed in his record as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and left home as a teenager to pursue the stage. He supported himself with a string of low-paid jobs while performing in small New York productions. He trained at HB Studio under the teacher Charlie Laughton, and later was accepted at the Actors Studio, where Lee Strasberg was among his teachers.

Career

Pacino's first successes were on stage. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? in 1969, and a second for Best Actor in a Play for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel in 1977. In 1969 he also appeared in Me, Natalie, his earliest screen credit in the records.

His first lead role in a film was in The Panic in Needle Park (1971). The next year he played Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972), a part he repeated in The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990). In the same decade he was seen in Scarecrow and Serpico (both 1973), in which he played the police officer Frank Serpico, and in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), where he played the bank robber John Wojtowicz. ...And Justice for All followed in 1979.

The 1980s brought Scarface (1983) and the role of Tony Montana. In the 1990s he took leading or major parts in Dick Tracy (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Scent of a Woman (1992), Carlito's Way (1993), Heat (1995, as the detective Vincent Hanna), Donnie Brasco, in which he played Benjamin Ruggiero, and The Devil's Advocate, in which he played the devil (both 1997). He continued with The Insider and Any Given Sunday (both 1999) and Insomnia (2002), and appeared in Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Later film work includes The Irishman (2019), where he played Jimmy Hoffa, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and House of Gucci (2021), in which he played Aldo Gucci. His latest listed credit is Killing Castro (2026).

On television he won Primetime Emmy Awards for Angels in America (2003) and You Don't Know Jack (2010), and was nominated for his role in Phil Spector. He also worked on stage in later years and was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play for The Merchant of Venice.

Pacino has directed as well as acted. His directing debut was the documentary Looking for Richard (1996), which he also wrote and which won him a Directors Guild of America Award. He later directed Chinese Coffee (2000), Wilde Salome (2011) and Salomé (2013). Since 1995 he has been co-president of the Actors Studio. His memoir, Sonny Boy, appeared in 2024.

Recognition

Pacino won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Scent of a Woman. He was nominated for the same award for Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and ...And Justice for All. He received supporting actor nominations for The Godfather, Dick Tracy, Glengarry Glen Ross and The Irishman.

Other major prizes include the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for The Godfather Part II, and Golden Globe Awards for Serpico, Scent of a Woman, Angels in America and You Don't Know Jack. He also holds the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (2001), the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (1994), the AFI Life Achievement Award (2007), the National Medal of Arts (2011) and the Kennedy Center Honors (2016). His recorded totals are 24 wins and 12 nominations.

Personal life

No marriages are recorded for Pacino. His daughter is Julie Pacino.