Al Pacino Biography

Al Pacino, actor

Birthplace: East Harlem, New York

Birthdate: April 25, 1940

Sign: Taurus

Alfredo James Pacino was born on April 25, 1940 in East Harlem in Manhattan New York. His parents were Salvatore Alfred Pacino and Rose Gerard, who divorced when he was two years old. He went to live with his mother and moved to the Bronx, New York where his grandparents stayed. They originated from Corleone, a name that will make its mark on Al Pacino's career.

Considered as one of the greatest actors of all time, Al Pacino started his acting career under the wing of the legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg. He first made his mark when he won an Obie Award for "The Indian Wants the Bronx" (1968). The next year proved to be a lucky one for Pacino when he won a Tony for playing Bickham, a psychotic in Don Petersen's "Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?" (1969). He made his movie debut via "Me, Natalie" (1969) on the same year.

It was in 1971, when Pacino got his first big break playing the lead role in "Panic in Needle Park." His portrayal of a heroin addict grabbed Francis Ford Coppola's attention and made the renowned director convince Paramount Studios to give the role of Michael Corleone to Pacino in the blockbuster film "The Godfather" (1972). The following year he starred as the eponymous lead in the movie "Serpico" (1973). He reprised his role as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather II" (1974) where he got an Oscar nomination for the Best Actor category.

Despite his new-found fame, Pacino continued to act on stage and won his second Tony for his performance in "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" (1977) despite the lack of attention from the critics.

His career encountered a slump in the 1980's. The films "Cruising" (1980) and "Author, Author" (1982) were critically slammed. But Pacino bounced back to form when he accepted Brian DePalma's film "Scarface" (1983). He earned a Golden Globe nomination for this movie where he played a Cuban drug lord.

He took a four-year break from films after the failure of "Revolution" (1985). He returned to doing movies in "Sea of Love" (1989) where he played a cop who falls in love for a murder suspect (Ellen Barkin).

The box office hit "Dick Tracy" (1990) marked the start of a great decade for Pacino. He again starred in "The Godfather III" (1990). He finally won an Oscar for Best Actor in his portrayal of an ill-tempered retired blind lieutenant in "Scent of a Woman" (1992). That same year, he was also nominated for the film "Glengarry Glen Ross" in the Best Supporting Actor category, making Pacino the first actor to be nominated in two different movies in the same year.

"Devils Advocate" (1997) and Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday" (1999) gave good reviews for Pacino. A remake of the Norwegian film "Insomnia" (1997) brought Pacino another critically acclaimed film to his name.

He was able to bring his favorite Shakespeare play to life via Michael Radford's "Merchant of Venice" (2004) where he played the interesting role of Shylock. On October 2006, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award form the American Film Institute. The next month, the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College gave Pacino the Honorary Patronage of the Society.

Pacino's next movie "88 Minutes" is scheduled to be released this year. He also slated to play Salvador Dali in the film "Dali & I: The Surreal Story" and the antagonist in the 22nd James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace."