Jason's Al Pacino Site
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As a teenager he held various odd jobs, including theater usher
and building superintendent. However, Pacino aspired for more creative pursuits and soon enrolled in New Yorks Herbert Berghof
Studio, where he flourished in drama and the arts.
At the age of 17, Pacino relocated to the Greenwich Village
area, which served as New Yorks hub for performing arts in the 1950s and 1960s. Shortly after, he landed his first part in
the stage production Hello Out There, which was directed by his mentor and friend Charles Laughton. In the mid 1960s,
he worked as an actor at Café La Mama and The Living Theatre, where he enjoyed a steady stream of supporting roles and bit
parts. Pacino went on to study under Lee Strasberg at the famed Actors Studio. He adopted the Method-acting approach (described
as a technique by which an actor seeks to gain complete identification with the personality he or she is portraying), which
would later influence his portrayal of some of cinemas most complex characters.
During the late 60s, Pacino worked with the Charles Playhouse
in Boston, where he appeared in a number of productions including America Hurrah and Awake and Sing (both 1967).
In 1968, Pacino returned to New York and made his off-Broadway debut in the one-act play The Indian Wants the Bronx,
for which he earned a Best Actor Obie Award. He soon graduated to Broadway, where he appeared in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
(1969), for which he received a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards.
That same year, Varietys poll of metropolitan drama critics chose him as Broadways most promising new actor.
After conquering the stage, Pacino tried his hand at the
screen, making his film debut in 1969s Me, Natalie. Shortly after, he landed his first lead role (as a heroin addict)
in Panic in Needle Park (1971). Director Francis Ford Coppola was so impressed by his performance that he cast Pacino
in the coveted role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). Arguably one of the greatest roles in modern American cinema, studio executives
were extremely skeptical when Hollywood heavyweights Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson were passed over for the virtually unknown
Pacino. In his portrayal of the brooding Mafia heir, Pacinos raw talent exploded onto the screen. The Godfather was
hailed by critics and audiences alike, and Pacino received his first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor in 1972. Two
years later, he reprised his role as the more mature Corleone in 1974s sequel The Godfather, Part II (this time securing his first Oscar nod for Best Actor).
In his next projects, Pacino collaborated with director
Sidney Lumet and earned two more Oscar nominations for his roles as the incorruptible cop in Serpico (1973) and as a bisexual bank robber in Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Both unconventional
films were extremely well received, only further confirming Pacinos success as a multifaceted actor.
Pacino secured his fourth Academy Award
nomination for his role as a crusading lawyer in And Justice For All
(1979). In Brian DePalmas Scarface (1983), Pacino played the infamous Cuban drug lord Tony Montana, opposite Michelle
Pfeiffer and Robert Loggia. After Scarface, Pacino took a four-year sabbatical from film, returning to star in 1989s
sultry thriller Sea of Love, with Ellen Barkin. Later that year, he added directing to his
repertoire with a personal project titled The Local Stigmatic (1989), which was not intended for national release.
The 1990s proved to be a very productive decade for Pacino,
when he made a number of acclaimed films and portrayed a wide range of characters. In 1990, he earned yet another Best Supporting
Actor nomination for his role in Warren Beattys Dick Tracy and (for the third time) played Michael Corleone in The
Godfather, Part III. He captured his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as a blind veteran in 1992s Scent
of a Woman, and simultaneously earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in David Mamets play Glengarry
Glen Ross. In 1993, he reunited with DePalma for Carlitos Way.
Pacino paid homage to his grandfather
in the Depression-era film Two Bits (1995), in which he played a character based on his late relative. Later that year,
he starred as a determined detective in Michael Manns Heat (1995), alongside Robert DeNiro, who played the equally determined
criminal. Heat reunited Pacino and DeNiro for the first time since the The
Godfather: Part II and also marked their first appearance on screen together.
In 1997, Pacino received praise
for his portrayal of a small-time mobster in Donnie Brasco, which co-starred Johnny Depp. He delivered two no-holds-barred performances as a modern-day Satan
in 1997s The Devils Advocate (opposite Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron) and as 60 Minutes
producer Lowell Bergman in 1999s Oscar-nominated The Insider
(opposite Russell Crowe). Later
in 1999, Pacino headlined Oliver Stones Any Given Sunday, in which he played an aging football coach at odds with the establishment.
Throughout his career, Pacino moved between screen and stage.
In 1977, he won a second Tony Award for his part in the Broadway production The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. In
the fall of 1979, he took on the challenging title role in the play Richard III; and from 1980-83 he intermittently
appeared as Walter Cole in David Mamets American Buffalo, performing in different venues throughout the U.S and Britain.
Although Pacino considers himself first and foremost a stage
actor, his films are the medium that propelled him to stardom. His career has spanned five decades and over 30 films, the
majority of which have produced some of Hollywoods most memorable characters. Pacino has never been married despite a few
long-term relationships with actresses Jill Clayburgh, Marthe Keller, and Diane Keaton. In 1989, Pacinos relationship with
acting teacher Jan Tarrant produced a daughter, Julie who lives with her mother.
Al has 4 sisters Josette Pacino(school teacher) twin sisters
Roberta Pacino-Richman (a filmaker, with her husband Mark Richman)and Paula, (Homemaker), and the youngest sister, Desiree
Pacino(Food and Beverage industry).
Pacino is known to be uncomfortable with the trappings of his
stardom, and as a result he tends to withdraw from the limelight. He currently lives in a modest apartment in New York City,
with his girlfriend, the actress Beverly D'Angelo, who he began dating in 1997.
Al & Beverly D'Angelo also have a beautiful
home in Sneedens Landing (a very upscale part of NY suberbs). In January 2001, Pacino received the Cecil B. DeMille Award
for career achievement at the Golden Globes' ceremony. Less than a week later, D'Angelo gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, named Anton and Olivia.
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