Al Pacino

Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American actor.

Considered one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century, Pacino has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards achieving the Triple Crown of Acting.

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 (Gerardi) and Salvatore Pacino.

His parents divorced when he was two years old.

He then moved with his mother to the South Bronx to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who were Italian emigrants from Corleone.

Pacino's father was from San Fratello and moved to work as an insurance salesman and restaurateur in Covina, California.

In his teenage years, Pacino was known as "Sonny" to his friends.

He had ambitions to become a baseball player and was also nicknamed "The Actor".

He attended Herman Ridder Junior High School, but soon dropped out of most of his classes except for English.

He subsequently attended the High School of Performing Arts, after gaining admission by audition.

His mother disagreed with his decision and, after an argument, he left home.

To finance his acting studies, Pacino took low-paying jobs as a messenger, busboy, janitor, and postal clerk, as well as once working in the mailroom for Commentary.

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 somewhat of a troublemaker at school.

He acted in basement plays in New York's theatrical underground but was rejected as a teenager by the Actors Studio.

Pacino joined the HB Studio, where he met acting teacher Charlie Laughton, who became his mentor and best friend.

In this period, he was often unemployed and homeless, and sometimes slept on the street, in theaters, or at friends' houses.

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.

The Actors Studio is a membership organization of professional actors, theater directors, and playwrights in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.

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."

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 also acted in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Scarecrow (1973), Cruising (1980), Scarface (1983), The Godfather Part III (1990), Carlito's Way (1993), Heat (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Devil's Advocate (1997), The Insider (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), Insomnia (2002), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and House of Gucci (2021).

His other Oscar-nominated roles include 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 went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman (1992).

Since 1994, he has been the joint president of the Actors Studio.

Pacino made his directing debut with the documentary Looking for Richard (1996); Pacino had played the lead role on stage in 1977.

Pacino directed and starred in Chinese Coffee (2000), Wilde Salomé (2011), and Salomé (2013).

He also received four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and been 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.

A method actor, Pacino studied at HB Studio and the Actors Studio, where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg.

On television, Pacino has acted in several 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.

He has also acted as Shylock in a 2004 feature film adaptation and 2010 stage production of The Merchant of Venice.

Pacino starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters (2020–23).

He has also had an extensive career on stage.