Al Pacino
Highest Rated: 100% Salomé (2013)
Lowest Rated: 3% Jack and Jill (2011)
Birthday: Apr 25, 1940
Birthplace: South Bronx, New York City, New York
Brooding and intense, Al Pacino has remained one of Hollywood's premier actors throughout his lengthy career, a popular and critical favorite whose list of credits includes many of the finest films of his era. Pacino was born April 25, 1940, in East Harlem, NY. Raised in the Bronx, he attended the legendary High School for Performing Arts, but dropped out at the age of 17. He spent the next several years drifting from job to job, continuing to study acting and occasionally appearing in off-off-Broadway productions. In 1966, Pacino was accepted to train at the Actors' Studio, and after working with James Earl Jones in The Peace Creeps, he starred as a brutal street youth in the off-Broadway social drama The Indian Wants the Bronx, earning an Obie Award as Best Actor for the 1967-1968 theatrical season. A year later, he made his Broadway debut in Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie? Although the play itself closed after less than 40 performances, Pacino was universally praised for his potent portrayal of a sociopathic drug addict, and he won a Tony Award for his performance. Pacino made his film debut in the 1969 flop Me, Natalie. After making his theatrical directorial debut with 1970's Rats, he returned to the screen a year later in Panic in Needle Park, again appearing as a junkie. (To prepare for the role, he and co-star Kitty Winn conducted extensive research in known drug-dealer haunts as well as methadone clinics.) While the picture was not a success, Pacino again earned critical raves. Next came Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 Mafia epic The Godfather. As Michael Corleone, the son of an infamous crime lord reluctantly thrust into the family business, Pacino shot to stardom, earning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his soulful performance. While the follow-up, 1973's Scarecrow, was received far less warmly, the police drama Serpico was a smash, as was 1974's The Godfather Part II for which he earned his third Academy Award nomination. The 1975 fact-based Dog Day Afternoon, in which Pacino starred as a robber attempting to stick up a bank in order to finance his gay lover's sex-change operation, was yet another staggering success.The 1977 auto-racing drama Bobby Deerfield, on the other hand, was a disaster. Pacino then retreated to Broadway, winning a second Tony for his performance in the title role in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. Upon returning to Hollywood, he starred in ...And Justice for All, which did not appease reviewers but restored him to moviegoers' good graces. Pacino next starred in William Friedkin's controversial Cruising, portraying a New York City cop on the trail of a serial killer targeting homosexuals; it was not a hit, nor was the 1982 comedy Author! Author! Brian DePalma's violent 1983 remake of Scarface followed; while moderately successful during its initial release, the movie later became a major cult favorite. Still, its lukewarm initial reception further tarnished Pacino's star. However, no one was fully prepared for the fate which befell 1985's historical epic Revolution; made for over $28 million, the film failed to gross even $1 million dollars at the box office. Pacino subsequently vanished from the public eye, directing his own film, The Local Stigmatic, which outside of a handful of 1990 showings at the Museum of Modern Art was never screened publicly. While his name was attached to a number of projects during this time period, none came to fruition, and he disappeared from cinema for over four years. Finally, in 1989, Pacino returned with the stylish thriller Sea of Love; the picture was a hit, and suddenly he was a star all over again. A virtually unrecognizable turn as a garish gangster in 1990's Dick Tracy earned him a sixth Oscar nomination, but The Godfather Part III was not the financial blockbuster many anticipated it to be. The 1991 romantic comedy Frankie and Johnny was a success, however, and a year later Pacino starred in the highly regarded Glengarry Glen Ross as well

Photos

View All Photos

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

CREDIT
No Score Yet Once Upon a Time In Hollywood Marvin Schwarzs — 2019
No Score Yet The Irishman Jimmy Hoffa — 2019
69% Paterno Joe Paterno — 2018
5% Hangman Detective Archer — 2017
67% The Pirates of Somalia Seymour Tolbin — 2017
50% Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait Actor $9.2K 2017
7% Misconduct Abrams — 2016
No Score Yet The Godfather Epic Michael Corleone — 2016
49% Manglehorn A.J. Manglehorn $64.1K 2015
77% Danny Collins Danny Collins $4.3M 2015
51% The Humbling Simon Axler Producer — 2015
94% Casting By Actor $14.5K 2013
80% Wilde Salomé King Herod Director — 2013
100% Salomé Director King Herod — 2013
74% Despicable Me 2 Eduardo $368.1M 2013
50% Phil Spector Phil Spector — 2013
37% Stand Up Guys Val $3.4M 2013
No Score Yet Dali & I: The Surreal Story Salvador Dali — 2012
3% Jack and Jill Himself $74.2M 2011
16% The Son of No One Detective Charles Stanford $29.4K 2011
91% You Don't Know Jack Dr. Jack Kevorkian — 2010
80% I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale Actor — 2009
18% Righteous Kill Rooster $40M 2008
5% 88 Minutes Jack Gramm $17M 2008
70% Ocean's Thirteen Willie Banks $78.9M 2007
No Score Yet Brando Actor — 2007
22% Two for the Money Walter Abrams $22.9M 2005
71% William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Shylock $3.4M 2004
6% Gigli Starkman $5.7M 2003
43% People I Know Eli Wurman — 2003
43% The Recruit Walter Burke $52.8M 2003
51% Simone Viktor Taransky $9.5M 2002
92% Insomnia Det. Will Dormer $67.4M 2002
No Score Yet Ultimate Fights Actor — 2002
No Score Yet Chinese Coffee Harry Levine Director — 2000
51% Any Given Sunday Tony D'Amato — 1999
96% The Insider Lowell Bergman — 1999
66% The Devil's Advocate John Milton — 1997
88% Donnie Brasco Lefty Ruggiero — 1997
No Score Yet Pitch Actor — 1997
81% Looking for Richard Director Producer Richard III Screenwriter — 1996
54% City Hall Mayor John Pappas — 1996
No Score Yet Pacino - An Actor's Vision Director Actor — 1996
86% Heat Vincent Hanna — 1995
40% Two Bits Grandpa — 1995
80% Carlito's Way Carlito Brigante — 1993
88% Scent of a Woman Lt. Col. Frank Slade — 1992
95% Glengarry Glen Ross Ricky Roma — 1992
66% Frankie & Johnny Johnny — 1991
85% Madonna: Truth or Dare Himself [uncredited] — 1991
68% The Godfather, Part III Michael Corleone — 1990
64% Dick Tracy Big Boy Caprice — 1990
No Score Yet The Local Stigmatic Producer Graham — 1990
78% Sea of Love Det. Frank Keller — 1989
10% Revolution Tom Dobb — 1985
No Score Yet Revolution Revisited Actor — 1985
81% Scarface Tony Montana $0.7M 1983
No Score Yet Author! Author! Ivan Travalian — 1982
52% Cruising Steve Burns — 1980
81% ...And Justice for All Arthur Kirkland — 1979
27% Bobby Deerfield Bobby — 1977
No Score Yet America at the Movies Actor — 1976
95% Dog Day Afternoon Sonny — 1975
97% The Godfather, Part II Michael Corleone — 1974
90% Serpico Frank Serpico — 1973
82% Scarecrow Francis Lionel 'Lion' Delbuchi — 1973
98% The Godfather Michael Corleone — 1972
No Score Yet The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Actor — 1972
83% The Panic in Needle Park Bobby — 1971
No Score Yet Me, Natalie Tony — 1969

TV

CREDIT
No Score Yet Late Show With David Letterman
1993-2015
Guest
  • 2013
No Score Yet American Experience
1988
Appearing
  • 2006
No Score Yet Charlie Rose
2013-2017
Guest
  • 2004
92% Angels in America
2003
Roy Cohn
  • 2003

QUOTES FROM Al Pacino CHARACTERS