Al Pacino is famous for his extraordinary movie roles not only in America, but also far beyond its borders, and during his lifetime he became a real Hollywood legend. The actor’s track record has many iconic images, such as Tony Montana, Michael Corleone and others. Al Pacino's biography, personal life, best roles - you will learn about all this from the article. So how did a guy from a dysfunctional area and a poor family manage to win recognition?
Al Pacino family and a photo of his youth
Alfredo James Pacino was born April 25, 1940 in New York (USA) in the family of the insurer Salvatore Pacino and housewife Rose Gerardi. At one time, the grandfather and grandmother of the future celebrity on the maternal side moved to America from the Sicilian city of Corleone. Alfredo's father was also not a purebred American - he had Italian roots. Rose married twenty-year-old Salvatore when she herself was barely 17 years old.
Soon, the couple decided that they were ready for the appearance of children. Al Pacino was born a year after the wedding of his parents, but this event did not save the family: when the boy was two years old, the marriage broke up, and his mother took him to his parents in the South Bronx, on the outskirts of New York.
Growing up
Even today, the area in which Rose and her son moved in is a direct association among New Yorkers with ill-being and crime, and in the early 1940s the situation was even worse. In those days, local children, including Al Pacino, practically did not leave the walls of their home without adult supervision. Not far from the residence of the Pacino family there was a small cinema where his mother took him to evening sessions almost daily in early childhood. So the child had a passion for cinema.
When the boy went to school, trouble began, caused by the behavior of the future star. Such children as Al Pacino were called problematic, he fully justified this characteristic. It was not easy for teachers to cope with his eccentricity, so relatives often had to go to school. Already at the age of nine, Pacino began to smoke, and by the age of thirteen he drank. Perhaps it would have come to drugs, but from this step the guy saved the death of friends who died from an overdose.
Acquaintance with the theater
In the biography of Al Pacino, acting occupies a special niche, and this hobby began, which grew into a profession, quite early. In his youth, the young American, who had taken the pseudonym Sonny Scott at that time, was thinking about concentrating on baseball, but that all changed when he visited the theater at the production of The Seagull. Later, Al recalled that the action on stage flew for him lightning fast, causing unusual feelings and a desire to immediately get a collection of Chekhov's works. Subsequently, the guy became a student of the famous School of Performing Arts named after Fiorello La Guardia, having received the nickname Actor from friends. Classes in an ordinary educational institution did not worry the young man, as a result, he failed the final exams.
This was followed by expulsion from school and conflict with the mother. Al decided to leave home, interrupted by random earnings of a messenger, a waiter, a cleaner, a loader. Thus, he paid for lessons in an acting studio.
The way to the theater
At the age of twenty, the actor nevertheless managed to become a part of the theatrical world: together with a friend he put scenes in public places, receiving a fee in his hat as a reward. After a short time, he decided to come to Herbert Berghof's studio, where he first met teacher Charlie Leighton. A new friend began to teach the guy acting, gradually becoming a close friend for him. At about the same time, the aspiring artist began to lose family members: in 1962, his mother died of leukemia, and a year later, his grandfather, who replaced his future star. Subsequently, Pacino admitted that he was very upset by the death of relatives. He also lamented that success had not come to him a little earlier, then, in his opinion, he would have a chance to save his mother’s life.
The first roles in the theater
Not every of Al Pacino's short biographies is published that contains information that he did not immediately become a student in an acting studio in Manhattan. This was preceded by many attempts, which were successful only in 1966. He began to study on the course of Lee Strasberg, who practices the Stanislavsky system. A year later, they began to offer him roles in the Commercial Theater. For participation in the performances the guy received 125 dollars a week.
In those same years, he took the pseudonym Al Pacino, simply shortening his real name Alfredo a little, and also spoke for the first time on Broadway. After seeing the charismatic actor in the production of “Does the tiger wear a tie?”, Viewers and critics began to leave a lot of positive reviews, which turned out for the guy to receive the prestigious Tony Award. In 1968, he became an actor in the Astor Place Theater.
First movie roles
They were episodic, and for his work he received almost nothing. His debut took place on the NYPD series in 1968, a year later he starred in the film "I, Natalie." The actor drew attention to the producer Martin Bregman, who proposed a long-term cooperation. Subsequently, this alliance turned out to be quite fruitful - the partners worked on the projects “Dog Midday”, “Face with a Scar”, “Serliko”. In 1971, Al portrayed the addict in the drama “Panic in Needle Park,” which was his first big movie job for him.
The success of The Godfather
In 1971, Francis Ford Coppola was actively looking for an actor for his new film “The Godfather”, he needed a guy who could play Michael Corleone. Paramount did not make big bets on the project, believing that they were waiting for an unremarkable gangster movie. Nevertheless, the director was diligently preparing for the shooting, having seen Pacino in “Panic in Needle Park,” he immediately invited him to audition. Of course, getting to know the young artist closer, the director gave the role that was as if created for him. This was confirmed by the Sicilian roots of the actor, his characteristic Italian appearance and difficult character.
It is noteworthy that the name of Corleone sounds exactly the same as the name of the Sicilian town, from where Pacino's grandparents emigrated, who raised him. Impressed by the charm and play of Alfredo, Francis Ford Coppola rejected all other candidates for the role, including Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford. The studio management was puzzled by this act, but the risk was justified: the film became very successful, and the actors who played in it quickly gained popularity. In the authoritative international IMDB ranking, “The Godfather” came in second place, losing the lead only to “Escape from the Shawshank”.
Other successful roles
After The Godfather, the celebrity had many interesting roles that proved that he is not an actor of one role, but is able to demonstrate many memorable images. In the 70s, he played a tramp-loser ("Scarecrow"), a self-doubt policeman ("Serpico"), an indecisive robber ("Dog Midday"), a race car driver ("Borrowed Life"). In the early 80s, the gay community took up arms for his role in the film “The Searcher,” which coincided with a slight decline in his career, but already in 1983 he released another hit with Al Pacino - “The Scarface”.
In subsequent years, he played in such successful films as:
- “The Smell of a Woman” (the film brought him an Oscar).
- "Thirteen Ocean Friends."
- "Money for two."
- "Recruit".
- "Fight".
- "Devil's Advocate".
- "The Way of Carlito" and many others.
Al Pacino's personal life and immediate plans
Not only interesting work in the cinema, but also intriguing novels was filled with the life path of a celebrity. For more than ten years, the filmmaker has been living in the same house with an actress named Lucila Sola, who is 36 years younger than him.
The public has long known general facts from his biography. Al Pacino's family has always been in a special position, but he never entered into an official marriage. Prior to his current life partner, he had many long and short-term novels, two of which led to the birth of children. Al Pacino first became a father in 1989, when acting teacher Jen Terrant gave birth to a daughter, Julia Maria.
From 1996 to 2003, he was in a relationship with actress Beverly D'Angelo, in 2001 they became the parents of twins - Olivia Rose and Anton James. In the media you can see a lot of photos of Al Pacino with children, he tries to devote as much free time to them as possible.
At the beginning of his career, the actor began a romantic relationship with actress Jill Kleiberg. During the filming of The Godfather, he met with colleague Diane Keaton. In 1977, he had a close relationship with film partner Martha Keller. Undoubtedly, with these names the list of his love victories does not end there.
In 2018, it became known that Pacino starred in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as in Zapadnoe and Irish, so soon all fans of the talent of an extraordinary actor will be able to see it on screens in new images.