Recent Shows: Godfather: Part III, The
Scent of a Woman
Biography:
One of the greatest actors in all of film history, Al Pacino
established himself during one of film's greatest decades, the 70s, and
has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American
movies. Born on April 25th, 1940 in the South Bronx, New ...(read more)
One of the greatest actors in all of film history, Al Pacino
established himself during one of film's greatest decades, the 70s, and
has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American
movies. Born on April 25th, 1940 in the South Bronx, New York, Pacino's
parents (Salvatore and Rose) divorced when he was young. His mother
moved them into his grandparents' house. Pacino found himself often
repeating the plots and voices of characters who he had seen in the
movies, one of his favorite activities. Bored and unmotivated in
school, the young Al Pacino found a haven in school plays, and his
interest soon blossomed into a full-time career. Starting on the stage,
Pacino went through a lengthy period of depression and poverty,
sometimes having to borrow bus fare to make it to auditions. He made it
into the prestigious Actors Studio in 1966, studying under the
legendary acting coach 'Lee Strasberg' , creator of the Method Approach that
would become the trademark of many 70s era actors. Making appearances
in various plays, Pacino finally hit it big with "The Indian Wants the
Bronx", winning an Obie award for the 1966-67 season. Gaining notoriety
on the theater scene, Pacino then won the Tony Award for "Does the
Tiger Wear a Necktie?". His first feature films made little departure
from the gritty realistic stage performances that earned him respect:
he played a junkie in Panic in Needle Park, The (1971) after his film debut in Me, Natalie (1969) . What
came next would change his life forever. The part of Michael Corleone
in Godfather, The (1972) was one of the most sought- after roles in film history.
'Robert Redford (I)' , 'Warren Beatty' , 'Jack Nicholson' , 'Ryan O'Neal' , 'Robert De Niro' , and a host of others were
bandied about for the role, but director 'Francis Ford Coppola' had his heart set on
the unknown Italian Pacino. From the studio, to the producers, to the
cast on down, nobody else wanted Al Pacino. Though Coppola won out
through slick persuasion, Pacino was in constant fear of being fired
and replaced at any minute during the hellish shoot. But the role was a
career- making hit, and earned him his first Academy Award nomination
for Best Supporting Actor. Instead of taking on easier projects for
money, Pacino threw his support behind tough important films, such as
the true life crime drama Serpico (1973) and the tragic real life bank robbery
film Dog Day Afternoon (1975) . Pacino opened eyes around the film world for his brave
choice of roles; and he was nominated three consecutive years for the
"Best Actor" Academy Award. He faltered slightly with Bobby Deerfield (1977) , but
regained his stride with the law film ...And Justice for All (1979) , for which he received
another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. This would
unfortunately signal one of the only bad points in his career, one that
produced the flops Cruising (1980) and Author! Author! (1982) . He took on another vicious
gangster role and cemented his legendary status in the ultra-violent
Scarface (1983) , but a monumental mistake was about to follow. Revolution (1985) endured
an endless and seemingly cursed shoot in which equipment was destroyed,
weather was terrible, and Pacino became terribly ill with pneumonia.
Constant changes in the script also further derailed an already
terrible project. The Revolutionary War film is considered one of the
worst films ever, gained Pacino his first truly awful reviews, and kept
him out of movies for the next four years. Returning to the stage,
Pacino has done much to give back and contribute to the theatre, which
he considers his first love. He directed a film Local Stigmatic, The (1989) but it remains
unreleased to the public. His self-imposed exile lifted, he returned in
striking form in Sea of Love (1989) as a hard-drinking cop. The film marks the
second phase of Pacino's career, the first film to feature his now
famous dark, owl eyes and hoarse, gravelly voice. Making a return to
the Corleones, he made Godfather: Part III, The (1990) , and earned raves for his first comedic
role in the colorful Dick Tracy (1990) . This earned him another Academy Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and, two years later, he was
nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) . He went into romantic mode for Frankie and Johnny (1991) . In 1992,
he finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his amazing
performance in Scent of a Woman (1992) . A mix of technical perfection (he plays a blind
man) and charisma, the role was tailor-made for him, and remains a
classic. The next few years would see Pacino becoming more comfortable
with acting and movies as a business, turning out great roles in great
films with more frequency and less of the demanding personal
involvement of his wilder days. Carlito's Way (1993) proved
another gangster classic, as did the epic crime drama Heat (1995) directed
by 'Michael Mann (I)' . He returned to the director's chair for the highly
acclaimed and quirky Shakespeare adaptation Looking for Richard (1996) . City Hall (1996) , Donnie Brasco (1997) ,
and Devil's Advocate, The (1997) all came out in this period. Reteaming with Mann and then
'Oliver Stone (I)' , he gave two commanding performances in Insider, The (1999) and Any Given Sunday (1999) . In
his personal life, Pacino is one of Hollywood's most enduring and
notorious bachelors, having never been married. He has a daughter,
Julie Marie, with acting teacher Jan Tarrant, and a new set of twins
with long-time girlfriend 'Beverly D'Angelo' . His romantic history includes a
long-time romance with Godfather co-star 'Diane Keaton' . With his intense and
gritty performances, Pacino was an original in the acting profession.
His Method approach would become the process of many actors throughout
time, and his unbeatable number of classic roles has already made him a
legend among film buffs and all aspiring actors and directors. His
commitment to acting as a profession and his constant screen dominance
has established him as one of movies' legends.
Brian Stewart
Trademarks:
* Volcanic tirade, smoke-burnished voice.
* Frequently plays men of power and/or authority.
* Volcanic tirade, smoke-burnished voice.
* Frequently plays men of power and/or authority.
Quotes:
* "The problem with me is, I guess, the way I express myself, you have to
be with me 50 years before you can get a sense of what I'm talking
about."
* "I can't say I've been sober though. I don't like that word. What does
it mean? 'Sober! He's very ...(read more)
* "The problem with me is, I guess, the way I express myself, you have to
be with me 50 years before you can get a sense of what I'm talking
about."
* "I can't say I've been sober though. I don't like that word. What does
it mean? 'Sober! He's very sober'."
* "There are times when I have a temperament. Yes, my temperament is
there ... but I hope I'm gentle. Yes, I think I am."
* "When I try to explain anything I always end up trying to be right
usually, but not truthful necessarily. Trying to give the right answer
or what I think is the right answer. It's a human instinct. You try to
be as clever as you can be. You're trying to come off like you really
know what the hell's going on, when you don't!"
* "I'm single and I don't particularly like it. I'm certainly the kind of
person who prefers ... it ... it ... It's good to have someone in your
life that you're going through this thing with. It's good. That's a
thing in life that I aspire to."
* "I like what 'Norman Mailer' said about alcohol: 'Drink has killed a lot of my
brain cells and I think I would have been a better writer without it,
but it would be one less way to relax.'"
* "Did you know I started out as a stand-up comic? People don't believe
me when I tell them."
* "In the end you're just playing a role." [on whether acting and his
roles reflected who he is]
* "I'll tell you something. And this is a fact. When I was doing
'Scarface', I remember being in love at that time. One of the few times
in my life. And I was so glad it was at that time. I would come home
and she would tell me about her life that day and all her problems and
I remember saying to her, look, you really got me through this picture
because I would shed everything when I came home."
* "That's right! That's right! We know the best feeling in the world is
the one between the second and third martini. That was my deal. I just
enjoyed who I became when I was drinking, so that was something hard to
break. I became much quieter, and funny. I must say, that kind of thing
came out."
* "I hope the perception is that I'm an actor, I never intended to be a
movie star."
* "I'm constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to
maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on
yourself."
* "I guess you find yourself repeating certain motifs. But at the heart
of it all, I'm an actor, always looking for a role. And then you try to
make things fresh."
* "People always said that time, the '70s, was about pretty boys, and
then I came along!"
* "One hopes to find out about the [movie] you're in while you're doing
it, not several years later, which is usually when I find out. I'm
like, 'Wow, that was a dud! I didn't know, nobody would tell me!' I've
done things for certain reasons, but it [comes from] thinking on your
feet... Sometimes actors do things not because we have a great desire
[for it], but because it's work, and I'm starting to wonder about
that."
* "But I was just lucky. People like Coppola were making films, and I got
opportunities."
* "I couldn't exist just doing films. But on the other hand, there is the
fame that comes with it, and the money. My problem is I still want to
play Hamlet in some little theater somewhere, and time is running out."
-- quoted by Robert Osbourne in "Academy Awards 1974 Oscar Annual"
* "As an old village poet put it to me in the 1960s. [If you dig it, it's
yours]. I dug 'Sidney Lumet' back then. I dig him now because what he had to
give, I took and made it mine. I'm forever grateful along with all the
other actors and writers who have benefited from Sidney's genius".
Presenting the Lifetime of Achievement Award to director 'Sidney Lumet' at the
2005 Academy Awards.
* "We know each other's minds. We have shared some things that are
personal to us, such as our roles. I know Bobby through his roles. But,
then, I don't think we actually talked about the actual work of
actors." - on his friend and Heat (1995) co-star 'Robert De Niro'
* "I remember seeing things that Bob had done in the past, and very
recent times, and have been taken with the work so much that I even
wrote [him] about it. Some of his great work -- which is plenty -- I
was staggered by the subtlety of his portrayal and the warmth, which is
what we often talk about with Bob among us actors who admire him so. It
is the warmth and the way he approaches things." - on his friend and
Heat (1995) co-star 'Robert De Niro'
* "Gene and I are two people not very similar. We had to play a very
close relationship, but I just didn't think we were as connected as we
should have been. We seemed apart. We didn't have altercations, we
didn't hate each other. But we didn't communicate, didn't think in the
same terms. Gene and I were thrown together, but under ordinary
circumstances we'd never cavort or be friends. It was two worlds - but
I have to say that I was as much responsible as he was." - on doing
Scarecrow (1973) with 'Gene Hackman'
* "The challenge? It's always a challenge of a sort. It's a challenge to
get up and go and leave your family and go out there in all different
parts of the world and do a picture and try to make it come
alive...You're still challenged for that. I mean, it's the same story.
It's just not changed. It seems to be the same thing it always was.
It's this effort. If you get excited about a thing then things are
generally a little easier. If you get enthusiastic and you want to do
something and you feel you are into something then things start to
come. But usually to find the enthusiasm and the appetite, that's the
challenge." - On whether or not acting is still challenging for him
* "'Coffee' is done, I got a couple of little important things to do
about it, like little tiny things, and THEN I will unveil it. It's not
a movie that you put in a...It needs a certain environment to flourish
in. It's just the way it is. It doesn't make it better or worse than
the picture. It's just the way it is, the nature of it." - On why his
film Chinese Coffee (2000) has yet to be released
* "I've always believed, I always hoped...I don't think I know what I'm
saying when I say this, but I was hoping that we could have a museum
where we had films. That there was a museum where films were, like,
hung. Like paintings. And you went to the museum. I got the movie
Local Stigmatic, The (1989) that I made. It's 52 minutes and everybody has seen it now
because I've personally got them in to see it, to show it to them and I
paid them for it, too. But it's over at the Museum of Modern Art and I
love saying...This is really pretentious of me, this is what I really
like. I love to say: 'Oh, it's at the Museum of Modern Art. Isn't that
great?' 'Have you released it?' 'No, I never did.' I love saying that,
you know? 'How come?' 'Because I didn't feel like it.' It's fun to do
that."
* "The actor becomes an emotional athlete. The process is painful -- my
personal life suffers."
* "You know what the problem with that film is? The real problem? Nobody
wants to see Michael have retribution and feel guilty. That's not who
he is. In the other scripts, in Michael's mind he is avenging his
family and saving them. Michael never thinks of himself as a gangster -
not as a child, not while he is one and not afterward. That is not the
image he has of himself. He's not a part of the GoodFellas thing.
Michael has this code; he lives by something that makes audiences
respond. But once he goes away from that and starts crying over
coffins, making confessions and feeling remorse, it isn't right. I
applaud Francis Coppola for trying to get to that, but Michael is so
frozen in that image. There is in him a deep feeling of having betrayed
his mother by killing his brother. That was a mistake. And we are ruled
by these mistakes in life as time goes on. He was wrong. Like in
Scarface when Tony kills Manny - that is wrong, and he pays for it. And
in his way, Michael pays for it." - On Godfather: Part III, The
(1990)
* "My first language was shy. It's only by having been thrust into the
limelight that I have learned to cope with my shyness."
* "I don't understand the hatred and fear of gays and bisexuals and
lesbians...it's a concept I honestly cannot grasp. To me, it's not who
you love...a man, a woman, what have you...it's the fact THAT you love.
That is all that truly matters."
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Posted on 03/09/08 09:06 PM.
AL PACINO ES EL MEJOR PADRINO DE LA SAGA
Posted on 03/04/08 04:10 PM.
whoever gives him less than 5 stars is a right plonker, he is the greatest actor of all time!!! say hello to my little friend:P
Posted on 03/04/08 02:24 AM.
hi is cool
Posted on 02/09/08 02:28 PM.
His good
Posted on 09/20/07 02:01 PM.
badman al pacino...scarface was the best
Posted on 09/11/07 07:30 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:29 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/11/07 07:28 AM.
hooooooooo lalaaaaaaa very good movie .
Posted on 09/07/07 01:03 PM.
Al Pacino is the of the best... one of greatest actors ever...
Posted on 09/04/07 11:34 AM.
emazing actor
Posted on 08/30/07 05:27 PM.
hi's my favorit actor
Posted on 08/30/07 02:30 PM.
he is realy actor
Posted on 08/14/07 02:51 PM.
he is the BEST!