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Alfredo
James "Al" Pacino (born
April 25, 1940) is an
Academy Award-winning
American actor, widely
considered as one of the
finest of his
generation.
Career
In
1966, Pacino studied
under legendary acting
coach Lee Strasberg
(alongside whom he would
later feature in the
1974 film The Godfather
Part II), finding acting
a therapeutic outlet in
a youth which saw him
depressed and so
impoverished he could
barely afford the bus
fares required to get
him to his next
audition. Yet by the end
of the decade, he had
won an Obie award for
his stage work in The
Indian Wants the Bronx
and a Tony award for
Does the Tiger Wear a
Necktie? His movie debut
came in 1969's Me,
Natalie but it was the
1971 film The Panic in
Needle Park, in which he
played a heroin addict,
that would showcase his
talents and bring him to
the attention of
director Francis Ford
Coppola.
Pacino's
rise to fame came after
portraying Michael
Corleone in Coppola's
blockbuster 1972 Mafia
film The Godfather and
Frank Serpico in the
eponymous 1972 movie.
Although numerous
established actors,
including Robert
Redford, Warren Beatty,
and a then unknown
Robert De Niro, were
vying for the part,
Coppola selected the
relatively unknown
Pacino. His performance
earned him an Academy
Award nomination for
Best Supporting Actor
and, by the end of the
1970s he would have
three more nominations,
all for Best Actor.
Despite further
nominations, it wasn't
until 1992 that Pacino
would win an Oscar, for
Best Actor, for his
portrayal of the
irascible, retired and
blind Lieutenant Colonel
Frank Slade in Martin
Brest's Scent of a
Woman.
Websites:
Al
Pacino
- Photos, filmography
and facts about the
legendary
actor
News:
Al
Pacino Accepts
University
Honour
26 November
2006
Al
Pacino To Receive
Lifetime
Award
21 October
2006
Al
Pacino To Play Herod In
Salome
21 March 2006
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