Al Pacino
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Alfredo James "Al" Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Italian-American film and stage actor and director. He is known for his movie roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather film trilogy, as Tony Montana in Scarface, and as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman, for which role he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992 after receiving seven previous Oscar nominations. His previous nominations for Best Actor were for The Godfather Part II and his roles as Frank Serpico in Serpico, Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon, and Arthur Kirkland in ...And Justice for All. His previous nominations for Best Supporting Actor were for his roles in The Godfather, Dick Tracy, and Glengarry Glen Ross.
As well as a distinguished career in film, he has also enjoyed a prestigious career on stage, picking up Tony Awards for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The
Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. His love of Shakespeare caused him to direct his first film with Looking for Richard, a part documentary on the play Richard III. In his personal life he has had three children, but has never married. He has tended to shy away from the limelight, instead focusing on his work as an actor. A highly respected actor, he has received numerous lifetime achievement awards, including one from the American Film Institute. Native to the State of New York, he is a method actor, taught mainly by Lee Strasberg and Charlie Laughton. He is most famed for playing mobsters —earning three of his nominations in this way—though he has also appeared several times on the other side of the law—as a police officer, detective, and a lawyer.
Early life and education
Pacino was born in East Harlem, Manhattan, the son of Italian American parents Rose (née Gerardi) and Salvatore Alfred Pacino, who divorced when he was two years old. His mother subsequently moved to the South Bronx, to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who originated from Corleone, Sicily. His father moved to Covina, California, working as an insurance salesman and owner of a restaurant called Pacino's Lounge, which closed in 1992. Pacino attended a school officially named High School of Performing Arts, a division of the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts in New York City, the main school