Al Pacino

Al Pacino (Alberto Pacino) , 1940-, American actor, b. New York City, studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio, New York City. Known for his intense, finely tuned performances, he achieved his first successes on the New York stage, winning an Obie for his work in the off-Broadway The Indian Wants the Bronx (1968) and a Tony for his Broadway debut in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969). Moving to Hollywood, Pacino became a major star with his portrayal of Mafia heir Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and its 1974 and 1990 sequels. He returned to Broadway (1977) to star in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, for which he was awarded a second Tony. Dark, wiry, and high-strung, the actor has won acclaim and occasional criticism for the forceful expressiveness, sometimes bordering on flamboyance, of his many performances. Other significant films include The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Cruising (1980), Scarface (1983), Sea of Love (1989), Scent of a Woman (1993; Academy Award), City Hall (1996), The Insider (1999), and Insomnia (2002).

Pacino, Al ( Alberto) (1940– ) US film actor. He studied method acting at Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio, and made his film debut in Me, Natalie (1969). Pacino appeared three times (1972, 1974, and 1990) in his famed role as Michael Corleone (in The Godfather and its two sequels), for which he received two of his several Academy Award nominations. He finally won a best actor Academy Award for Scent of a Woman (1992). Other films include Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Scarface (1983), and Donnie Brasco (1996). His directorial debut was Looking for Richard (1996).

Pacino, Al (b. 1940), actor. The brooding, dynamic movie star who specializes in playing antiheroes began in the New York theatre and has returned much more often than most film stars of his stature. A native New Yorker, he briefly attended the High School of the Performing Arts before studying at the Herbert Berghof Studio and at the Actors Studio, then made a provocative debut Off Broadway in 1968 as the drunk prankster Murph in The Indian Wants the Bronx. He was further praised the next year for his Broadway performance as the drug addict Bickham in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969). Pacino's film career began in 1971, but he managed to find time for such riveting stage performances as the boxing champ Kilroy in Camino Real (1970); the gullible, doomed recruit Hummel in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977); a fierce Richard III (1979); the small‐time crook Walter Cole with a big‐time ego in American Buffalo (1981); the talkative salesman Erie Smith in Hughie (1996); and the Hitler‐like gangster Arturo Ui in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2002).