Few can deny that Al Pacino is one of the most legendary actors around. Alongside contemporaries such as Joe Pesci, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, Pacino has starred in many mafia-type films. The two that are arguably the most well-known are The Godfather and Scarface.
Even as a kid, the Bronx native wanted to become an actor. As of today, Al Pacino has a special place in film history. Besides his very successful acting carer, he has three children and has experienced several tough relationships, though he has never been married.
So how did Al Pacino make it to Hollywood? And who are his children? Here’s all you need to know about the legendary actor!
On April 25, 1940, Al Pacino was born in New York City. His parents were Italian immigrants from Sicily; Al was their only child.
When he was still just a toddler, Pacino’s parents separated. His father moved to California, while Al stayed on the east coast to be raised by his mother and grandparents.
“My grandfather, James Gerardi, taught me about work,” Pacino told The Guardian.
“He was a plasterer, and work – any kind of work – was the joy of his life. So I grew up wanting to – it’s what I’ve always chased. The joy of work is what keeps me going.
“The conclusion of my teachers was that I needed a dad. I wasn’t an out-of-control teenager, but I was close. My parents divorced when I was two, and my father wasn’t in my life from then. I wanted to be different with my children.”
Pacino learned the value and importance of hard work, and in his early teenage years, a new interest would present itself when he became very interested in acting,
His grandmother often took him to the movies as a young kid, and Pacino loved it. His mother also encouraged his interest in film, theater, and acting. When he was 13, he starred in a school production of Home Sweet Homicide. At that point, people had already noticed that he was a great raw talent; someone even told his mother that he was the next Marlon Brando.
However, when Pacino was 16, his mother had to stop working because she got sick.
Negativity about his acting
That meant Al had to step up to help the family bring in money – this sparked the beginning of a bad relationship with his mother.
“My mother had to stop working because of her health, and I had to support her. It was then that she took a realistic look at my prospects and became very negative about my acting,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1973.
What followed was Al going through one job after the other without getting paid accordingly.
“I couldn’t hold a job for long, I kept telling my mother I’d soon be doing something big, that I’d met a person who was going to make me a real draftsman. I said that because I thought ‘draftsman’ sounded very important to me. But she never believed me,” he added.
Pacino was accepted into the High School of Performing Arts. However, he wasn’t the most excellent of students and, due to poor grades and failing classes, he decided to drop out at the age of 17.
After working a series of smaller jobs, Pacino went to school once again to study theater at Herbert Berghof Studio. He got some roles in off-Broadway productions, while in 1966, he was accepted into the Actors Studio.
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