Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning over five decades, he has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He is one of the few performers to have received the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts.
A method actor and former student of the HB Studio and the Actors Studio, where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg, Pacino’s film debut came at the age of 29 with a minor role in Me, Natalie (1969). He gained favorable notice for his first lead role as a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park (1971). Wide acclaim and recognition came with his breakthrough role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather (1972), co-starring Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Talia Shire, and Diane Keaton; for which he received his first Oscar nomination, and he would reprise the role in the sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990). His portrayal of Michael Corleone is regarded as one of the greatest in film history.
Pacino received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Serpico (1973), The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and …And Justice for All (1979), ultimately winning it for playing a blind military veteran in Scent of a Woman (1992). He earned Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in The Godfather, Dick Tracy (1990), with Warren Beatty (who also directed), Madonna, Glenne Headly, and Charlie Korsmo; Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), with Jack Lemmon; and The Irishman (2019), with De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel, which marked his first collaboration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
Other notable roles include Tony Montana in Scarface (1983), Carlito Brigante in Carlito’s Way (1993), Benjamin Ruggiero in Donnie Brasco (1997), with Johnny Depp; and Lowell Bergman in The Insider (1999), with Russel Crowe. He has also starred in Michael Mann‘s Heat (1995), in which he appeared on camera with Robert De Niro for the first time; Taylor Hackford’s The Devil’s Advocate (1997), with Keanu Reeves, and Charlize Theron; Christopher Nolan‘s Insomnia (2002), with Robin Williams and Hilary Swank; Simon (2002), with Catherine Keener and Winona Ryder; Steven Soderbergh‘s Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Ellen Barkin, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, and Elliott Gould; Stand Up Guys (2012), with Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin; and Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie.
On television, Pacino has acted in several productions for HBO, including Angels in America (2003), with Meryl Streep, Patrick Wilson, Mary-Louise Parker, Emma Thompson, and Jeffrey Wright; and the Jack Kevorkian biopic You Don’t Know Jack (2010), with John Goodman, Danny Huston, Susan Sarandon, and Brenda Vaccaro; winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for each. He also starred with Helen Mirren in the HBO biopic Phil Spector (2012), who were both nominated for Emmy’s and Golden Globes for their performances. Recently he started in the Amazon Prime series Hunters. He has also had an extensive career on stage. He is a two-time Tony Award winner, in 1969 and 1977, for his performances in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel.
Pacino made his filmmaking debut with Looking for Richard (1996), directing and starring in this documentary about the play Richard III by William Shakespeare; Pacino had played the lead role on stage in 1977. He has also acted as Shylock in 2004 feature film adaptation and 2010 stage production of The Merchant of Venice. Pacino directed and starred in Chinese Coffee (2000), Wilde Salomé (2011), and Salomé (2013). Since 1994, he has been the joint president of the Actors Studio.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Me, Natalie (1969) – directed by Fred Coe
- The Panic in Needle Park (1971) – directed by Jerry Schatzberg
- The Godfather (1972) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
- Scarecrow (1973) – directed by Jerry Schatzberg
- Serpico (1973) – directed by Sidney Lumet
- The Godfather Part II (1974) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – directed by Sidney Lumet
- Bobby Deerfield (1977) – directed by Sydney Pollack
- …And Justice for All (1979) – directed by Norman Jewison
- Cruising (1980) – directed by William Friedkin
- Author! Author! (1982) – directed by Arthur Hiller
- Scarface (1983) – directed Brian De Palma
- Revolution (1985) – directed by Hugh Hudson
- Sea of Love (1989) – directed by Harold Becker
- The Local Stigmatic (1990) – directed by David Wheeler
- Dick Tracy (1990) – directed by Warren Beatty
- The Godfather Part III (1990) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
- Frankie and Johnny (1991) – directed by Garry Marshall
- Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) – directed by James Foley
- Scent of a Woman (1992) – directed by Martin Brest
- Carlito’s Way (1993) – directed by Brian De Palma
- Two Bits (1995) – directed by James Foley
- Heat (1995) – directed by Michael Mann
- City Hall (1996) – directed by Harold Becker
- Looking for Richard (1996) – also director – documentary
- Donnie Brasco (1997) – directed by Mike Newell
- The Devil’s Advocate (1997) – directed by Taylor Hackford
- The Insider (1999) – directed by Michael Mann
- Any Given Sunday (1999) – directed by Oliver Stone
- Chinese Coffee (2000) – also director
- Insomnia (2002) – directed by Christopher Nolan
- Simone (2002) – directed by Andrew Niccol
- People I Know (2002) – directed by Daniel Algrant
- The Recruit (2003) – directed by Roger Donaldson
- Gigli (2003) – directed by Martin Brest
- Angels in America (2003) – directed by Mike Nichols – miniseries – 6 episodes
- The Merchant of Venice (2004) – directed by Michael Radford
- Two for the Money (2005) – directed by D.J. Caruso
- 88 Minutes (2007)* – directed by Jon Avnet
- Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) – directed by Steven Soderbergh
- Righteous Kill (2008) – directed by Jon Avnet
- You Don’t Know Jack (2010) – directed by Barry Levinson – TV movie
- The Son of No One (2011) – by Dito Montiel
- Wilde Salomé (2011) – director, writer – dramatic documentary
- Jack and Jill (2011) – directed by Dennis Dugan
- Stand Up Guys (2012) – directed by Fisher Stevens
- Salomé (2012) – director, writer – dramatic footage from Wilde Salomé
- We Are Not Animals (2013) – directed by Alejandro Agresti
- Phil Spector (2013) – directed by David Mamet – TV movie
- Manglehorn (2014) – directed by David Gordon Green
- The Humbling (2014) – directed by Barry Levinson
- Danny Collins (2015) – directed by Dan Fogelman
- Misconduct (2016) – directed by Shintaro Shimosawa
- Hangman (2017) – directed by Bryan Buckley
- Paterno (2018) – directed by Johnny Martin – TV movie
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)* – directed by Quentin Tarantino
- The Irishman (2019) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021) – directed by Michael Polish
- House of Gucci (2021) – directed by Ridley Scott
I Review Stuff 