Al Pacino's Life and Career in Photos

Since his breakout performance in 1971's The Godfather, Al Pacino has established himself as one of the all-time acting greats. Look back at the iconic actor's personal and professional life in celebration of his 83rd birthday.

Al Pacino's Early Days

Born Alfredo James Pacino on April 25, 1940 in New York City, Al Pacinowas born and raised in New York City. Pacino grew up poor in the South Bronx, he recalled in an Interview magazine feature, and was raised by his mother, aunt, grandmother and grandfather.

"It was tough for me growing up, I will say," he told Donnie Brasco director Mike Newell. "But pretty much my grandmother, she ruled. And my mother was second. They were relatively young. My mother had me young. I owe a lot to that period in my life. I owe a lot to those women and my grandfather."

He said while his family didn't quite "encourage" his acting, they "accepted" it.

Al Pacino as a Young Actor

Before becoming the bonafide movie star he is today, Pacino studied acting at Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City and began his career on the stage.

One of his teachers, Charlie Laughton (pictured here with Pacino in 1974), would become a close friend and mentor for decades to come.

The two actually first met in a bar in New York City when Pacino was 17, The New Yorker noted.

Al Pacino's Acting Teachers

Pacino began taking classes with renowned acting teacher Lee Strasberg and joined Strasberg's Actor's Studio in 1967; he went on to appear in productions in New York and Boston. Pacino's Broadway debut came in 1969's Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie? — a role that won him a Tony Award.

Here, Pacino and Strasberg are seen at a party in New York City in 1976.

Pacino credits both Laughton and Strasberg with his introduction to acting, saying in Interview that because he "quit school to go work," his "education came from the theater."

"The people who were my mentors like Charlie Laughton, who is my greatest friend and mentor," he continued."[There's] Lee Strasberg, of course, Martin Bregman. I can't say anything without mentioning those three people."

Bregman produced many of Pacino's films and served as his manager.

Al Pacino's First Film Role

In 1971, Pacino landed his first major starring role on screen in the film The Panic in Needle Park, in which he played a man struggling with heroin addiction.

Al Pacino in 'The Godfather'

His big break, though, came in 1972 when he stepped into the role of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. The role led to Pacino's first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, though he skipped the ceremony altogether. In 2022, he told The New York Times in 2022 that his absence wasn't a protest but rather, "I was somewhat, more or less, rebellious."

He continued, when asked about his rise to fame: "I was somewhat uncomfortable with being in that situation, being in that world. I was also working onstage in Boston at that time [in "Richard III"]. But that was an excuse. I just was afraid to go."

Pacino reprised the role as Corleone in The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Godfather Part III in 1990.

Al Pacino and Diane Keaton's Relationship

Diane Keaton told PEOPLE that when she and Pacino filmed The Godfather in 1971, she "had a crush" on the actor.

They later became a couple. As Keaton recalled, "I was mad for him. Charming, hilarious, a nonstop talker," she said. "There was an aspect of him that was like a lost orphan, like this kind of crazy idiot savant. And oh, gorgeous!"

Pacino, though, had no desire to get married which lead Keaton to give an ultimatum and the relationship to end.

"I worked hard on that one," she said." I went about it in not a perfect way."

Al Pacino in 'Serpico'

After The Godfather, the roles just kept coming for Pacino including 1973's Serpico, which earned him an another Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe win.

Al Pacino in 'Dog Day Afternoon'

He earned another Oscar nomination for his role in Dog Day Afternoon in 1975.

Al Pacino at The Tony Awards

As his film career was taking off, Pacino continued to take the Broadway stage and in 1977 won his second Tony for his performance in Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel.

Here, he poses at the ceremony with Diana Ross.

Al Pacino in 'Scarface'

In 1983, Pacino stepped into the role of gangster Tony Montana in the iconic film Scarface.

Al Pacino in 'Sea of Love'

In 1989, he starred as detective Frank Keller in Sea of Love alongside Ellen Barkin.

Al Pacino in 'Dick Tracy'

He earned yet another Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy in 1990, which was directed by Warren Beatty.

Al Pacino in 'Glengarry Glen Ross'

The 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross was adapted from the David Mamet play of the same name. In the film, Pacino plays Richard Roma; years later, in the 2012 Broadway revival of the show, Pacino stepped into the role of Shelley Levene.

Al Pacino's Oscar Winning Performance

Pacino would finally win his first, and only, Oscar in 1993 for his performance in Scent of a Woman as a blind man who has a memorable experience in New York City after his caretaking niece hires a young man to look after him during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Al Pacino at The Golden Globes

The role would also win him his second Golden Globe Award. He later won the statue for his work in Angels in America in 2004 and You Don't Know Jack in 2011.

In 2001, he also won the Cecil B. deMille Award — a prize given to recognize "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment."

Al Pacino Takes Home the Oscar

Here, Pacino accepts his Oscar for Best Actor after seven previous nominations.

Al Pacino Steps Behind the Camera

Pacino's directorial debut came in 1996's Looking for Richard —a film that's part documentary about William Shakespeare's Richard III, a production Pacino starred in himself in 1979 on Broadway. The film's cast includes Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Kevin Kline, James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave.

Here, Pacino poses at a screening of the film at Cannes Festival.

Al Pacino and Beverly D'Angelo

Beverly D'Angelo fell for Pacino in the 1990s — while she was still married to her ex-husband. But that ex encouraged her to pursue a relationship with Pacino, and after dating for several years, she and Pacino welcomed twins Anton and Olivia in 2001.

While the pair broke up shortly after the birth of their children, D'Angelo told PEOPLE, "The greatest gift that Al ever gave me was to make me a mother."

Here, the former couple poses together at the U.K. premiere of Pacino's film Any Given Sunday in 2000.

Al Pacino at the Emmy Awards

Pacino poses alongside Meryl Streep and Angels in America director Mike Nichols at the 2004 Emmy Awards where the series won for Outstanding Miniseries. Pacino also won an individual award for his portrayal of Roy Cohn on the show.

In 2010, he won his second Emmy award for outstanding lead actor in miniseries or a movie for his role in You Don't Know Jack as Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

Al Pacino and 'Salome'

Before becoming an Oscar winner herself, Jessica Chastain worked alongside Pacino in 2006 in a production of Oscar Wilde's Salome — a show he also starred in on Broadway in 1992 and 2003.

The 2006 production at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles was part of a documentary Pacino created that was released in 2018 titled Wilde Salome.

Al Pacino in 'Ocean's Thirteen'

In 2007, he starred in Ocean's Thirteen alongside George Clooney (pictured here at the film's U.S. premiere), Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.

Al Pacino Wins the AFL Life Achievement Award

That year, he also accepted the American Film Institute's 35th annual AFI Life Achievement Award.

Al Pacino at Kennedy Center Honors

In 2016, Pacino was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors alongside James Taylor, members of the band the Eagles, Martha Argerich and Mavis Staples.

Al Pacino as a Dad

Pacino is father to three children: Julie Pacino (who he shares with Jan Tarrant, an acting teacher) and his younger children with D'Angelo, Anton and Olivia Pacino.

Here, Pacino poses with all three of his children at the Academy Awards in 2019.

Al Pacino in 'The Irishman'

In 2019, he reunited with The Godfather Part II costar, Robert De Niro, when they starred in Martin Scorsese's film The Irishman.

Here, the three men pose together at the film's international premiere at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival.

Al Pacino and Lady Gaga

In 2021 he starred as Aldo Gucci in House of Gucci alongside Lady Gaga (pictured here at the New York premiere) and Adam Driver.

Al Pacino Celebrates 'The Godfather'

Pacino took the stage with De Niro and The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola during the 2022 Academy Awards to honor the iconic film's 50th anniversary.

"I feel moments like this should be sincere and brief, and I'm so grateful for my wonderful friends to come here to help me celebrate with you," Coppola said of De Niro and Pacino. "This project that we began 50 years ago with really the most extraordinary collaborators, many of them legends and so many of them that I can't take the time to list them all, but you know them all well."

"So I'm going to only thank two from the bottom of my heart," Coppola added, thanking Mario Puzo, author of the Godfather novels, and late producer Robert Evans.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro

The celebrations continued, and in June, De Niro and Pacino reunited once again at The Godfather 50th Anniversary Screening during the 2022 Tribeca Festival at United Palace Theater in New York City in June.

Al Pacino in 'Hunters'

Most recently, Pacino starred as Meyer Offerman on the series Hunters — a show inspired by true events about a group of Nazi hunters in New York in the 1970s.

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