Pacino, Al, 1940-

Alfredo James Pacino ( pə-CHEE-noh; Italian: [paˈtʃiːno]; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, during which he has earned many accolades, achieving the Triple Crown of Acting by winning an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award. He was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2007, the National Medal of Arts in 2011, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016, and the Sam Wanamaker Award in 2026. A method actor, Pacino studied at HB Studio and the Actors Studio where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3 billion worldwide. Pacino started acting in theater, ranging from underground to off-Broadway and out-of-town productions to Broadway. He won two Tony Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969) and Best Actor in a Play for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977). He also played "Teach" in Off-Broadway, Broadway, and West End productions of David Mamet's American Buffalo (1981–1984), starred in multiple productions of Oscar Wilde's Salome (1992, 2003, 2006), and earned a third Tony Award nomination for portraying Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (2010), a role he played in the 2004 feature film adaptation. After garnering acclaim for his first lead film role in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Pacino was cast as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972), reprising the role in its two sequels (1974, 1990). He was nominated for Academy Awards for the first two films. Pacino would go on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman (1992). His other Oscar-nominated roles were in Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), ...And Justice for All (1979), Dick Tracy (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and The Irishman (2019). Pacino has also starred in Scarecrow (1973), Scarface (1983), Sea of Love (1989), Carlito's Way (1993), Heat (1995), Donnie Brasco, The Devil's Advocate (both 1997), The Insider, Any Given Sunday (both 1999), Insomnia (2002), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and House of Gucci (2021), among others. On television, Pacino has acted in multiple productions for HBO, including Angels in America (2003) and the Jack Kevorkian biopic You Don't Know Jack (2010), winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for each. Pacino starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters (2020–2023). Pacino made his directorial debut with the documentary Looking for Richard (1996), for which he won a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. He directed and starred in Chinese Coffee (2000), Wilde Salomé (2011), and Salomé (2013). He wrote his memoir Sonny Boy, which was published by Penguin Press in 2024. Since 1995, Pacino has been co-president of the Actors Studio (he was the co-artistic director from 1981 to 1983).