Summary
- Al Pacino: biography of the American actor in the CineMagazine post
- Al Pacino’s beginnings: from the street to Hollywood
- Success after success
- Al Pacino films and plays
- Very eventful private life
Al Pacino: biography of the American actor
1993 Oscar winner for the part of Colonel Slade in the unforgettable “Scent of a Woman”, Alfredo James Pacino – Al Pacino – and certainly a great of world cinema, not only American. Because, to begin with, he is proudly Italian! Born in New York in 1940 from a Sicilian family originally from San Fratello (Messina), with that strange face for those times and with an extraordinary skill, he was able to climb impossible peaks. And it has become an undisputed myth of world cinema.
In this new post by CineMagazine we will see together the main steps in the professional and personal life of the Italian-American actor, who has made generations of cinema fans dream.

Al Pacino’s beginnings: from the street to Hollywood
Raised in conditions of misery, rebellious and reluctant to study, at the age of 17 Al ran away from home and lived on jobs and even heavy experiences (he smoked and used drugs). At the age of twenty he sought refuge with relatives in Sicily, only to return to the United States a few years later and twice attempt the Academy of Dramatic Art in New York. He will only be caught on the second try.
Between theater and cinema, Al begins to do his apprenticeship as an actor and thanks to a part in a 1971 film he is noticed by Francis Ford Coppola who is writing him for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather . Hence the worldwide success and the first Oscar nomination that launched Pacino towards a very long career.
Success after success
After the first part of the Godfather, that afternoon of a dog day, Un attimo..una vita, Scarface, Revolution, Paura d’Amare, Carlito’s Way and dozens of other films follow that make him one of the highest paid and most sought after actors of the eighties and nineties. He never forgets the theater and thanks to his attention to the scripts he refuses many films (including Pretty Woman and Kramer against Kramer ) that he was not sure he could interpret well.
Complete actor, he grew up with his roles and in the 2000s and still very active, in totally new or particular roles. He doesn’t even disdain television series , as long as they have a convincing plot. We find him in You don’t know Jack and Phil Spector , produced specifically for TV, with the usual skill that raises his roles to different nominations.
Al Pacino also stands out for his skill as a director (he directed the films Riccardo III, Chinese Coffee, Wild Salome, Babbelonia ) and as the screenwriter of the same films he directed.
He has produced several films, in addition to his own, and also the television series Phil Spector of which he was obviously the protagonist. A versatility that denotes his inner restlessness but also his brilliant creativity.
Al Pacino films and plays
Here is the complete filmography of Al Pacino, with all the films in which he participated, as well as the plays in which he participated.
Cinema Actor
-
-
- Me, Natalie, by Fred Coe (1969)
- Panico a Needle Park (The Panic in Needle Park), regia di Jerry Schatzberg (1971)
- The Godfather, by Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
- The Scarecrow, by Jerry Schatzberg (1973)
- Serpico, by Sidney Lumet (1973)
- The Godfather Part II (The Godfather Part II), directed by Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
- Dog Day Afternoon, by Sidney Lumet (1975)
- One Moment, One Life (Bobby Deerfield), by Sydney Pollack (1977)
- … and Justice for All (… And Justice for All), directed by Norman Jewison (1979)
- Cruising, regia di William Friedkin (1980)
- Papa, sei una landslide (Author! Author!), Directed by Arthur Hiller (1982)
- Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma (1983)
- Revolution, directed by Hugh Hudson (1985)
- Sea of Love, by Harold Becker (1989)
- The Local Stigmatic, regia di David F. Wheeler (1990)
- Dick Tracy, by Warren Beatty (1990)
- The Godfather Part III (The Godfather Part III), directed by Francis Ford Coppola (1990)
- Fear of Love (Frankie and Johnny), by Garry Marshall (1991)
- Americani (Glengarry Glen Ross), regia di James Foley (1992)
- Scent of a Woman – Profumo di donna (Scent of a Woman), regia di Martin Brest (1992)
- Carlito’s Way, directed by Brian De Palma (1993)
- Two Bits, directed by James Foley (1995)
- Heat – The Challenge (Heat), directed by Michael Mann (1995)
- City Hall, regia di Harold Becker (1996)
- Richard III – A Man, a King (Looking for Richard), directed by Al Pacino (1996)
- Donnie Brasco, by Mike Newell (1997)
- The Devil’s Advocate, directed by Taylor Hackford (1997)
- Insider – Behind the Truth (The Insider), directed by Michael Mann (1999)
- Any Given Sunday, by Oliver Stone (1999)
- Chinese Coffee, directed by Al Pacino (2000)
- Insomnia, Royal Di Christopher Nolan (2002)
- S1m0ne, by Andrew Niccol (2002)
- People I Know, regia di Daniel Algrant (2002)
- The Recruit, by Roger Donaldson (2003)
- Extreme Love – Tough Love (Gigli), directed by Martin Brest (2003)
- The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford (2004)
- Rischio a due (Two for the Money), directed by DJ Caruso (2005)
- 88 Minutes (88 Minutes), directed by Jon Avnet (2007)
- Ocean’s Thirteen, regia di Steven Soderbergh (2007)
- Righteous Kill, directed by Jon Avnet (2008)
- I Knew It Was You, regia di Richard Shepard – documentario (2009)
- The Son of No One, directed by Dito Montiel (2011)
- Wilde Salome, directed by Al Pacino (2011)
- Jack e Jill (Jack and Jill), regia di Dennis Dugan (2011)
- Stand Up Guys, by Fisher Stevens (2012)
- The Humbling, regia di Barry Levinson (2014)
- Manglehorn, directed by David Gordon Green (2014)
- The Song of Life – Danny Collins (Danny Collins), directed by Dan Fogelman (2015)
- Conspiracy – La conspiracion (Misconduct), directed by Shintaro Shimosawa (2016)
- Hangman – The Hangman Game (Hangman), directed by Johnny Martin (2017)
- The Pirates of Somalia (The Pirates of Somalia), directed by Bryan Buckley (2017)
- Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino (2019)
- The Irishman, regia di Martin Scorsese (2019)
-
Television
-
-
- NYPD – TV series, episode 2×05 (1968)
- Angels in America, by Mike Nichols – TV miniseries, 6 episodes (2003)
- You Don’t Know Jack – Il dottor morte (You Don’t Know Jack), regia di Barry Levinson – film TV (2010)
- Phil Spector, regia di David Mamet – TV movie (2013)
- Paterno, directed by Barry Levinson – film TV (2018)
- Hunters – TV series, 10 episodes (2020-in production)
-
Director
-
-
- Richard III – A Man, a King (Looking for Richard, 1996)
- Chinese Coffee (2000)
- Babbleonia – documentary (2007)
- Wild Salome (2011)
-
Screenwriter
-
-
- Richard III – A Man, a King (Looking for Richard), directed by Al Pacino (1996)
- Wilde Salome, directed by Al Pacino (2011)
-
Producer
-
-
- The Local Stigmatic, regia di David F. Wheeler (1990)
- Richard III – A Man, a King (Looking for Richard), directed by Al Pacino (1996)
- Chinese Coffee, directed by Al Pacino (2000)
- Phil Spector, regia di David Mamet – TV movie (2013)
- The Humbling, regia di Barry Levinson (2014)
-
theater
-
-
- Awake and Sing! (1967)
- America, Hurrah (1967)
- The Indian Wants the Bronx (1968)
- Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969)
- Royal Road (1970)
- The resistible rise of Arturo Ui (1974-1975)
- The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977)
- Riccardo III (1977)
- American Buffalo (1983)
- The Local Stigmatic (1985)
- Julius Caesar (1988)
- Salome (1992)
- Chinese Coffee (1992)
- Hughie (1996)
- Oekadis (1998)
- Orphans (2005)
- The merchant of Venice (2011)
- Glengarry Glen Ross (2012)
- China Doll (2015-2016)
-

Very eventful private life
Seventy-year-old lively and dynamic, even today Al Pacino has not found a balance in his private life. He has had many women, including Diane Keaton and Madonna, but he really only loved his acting teacher Jan Tarrant, with whom he had daughter Julie (1989).
He also had twins – Olivia and Anton (2001) – with his partner Beverly D’Angelo, with whom he fought for a ferocious separation and obtained custody of the children.
Today his partner and a young Argentine actress, Lucila Sola.