Al Pacino Opened Up About His Childhood In Interview — 'I Was A Sort Of Lonely Child'

Mar 05, 2021

Alfredo James Pacino earned international fame after delivering an unforgettable performance in the 1972 movie “The Godfather.” That role marked the first of nine Academy Award nominations and 19 Golden Globe Nominations. Today, he's known in most acting circles as a living legend.

While Pacino has earned the respect, accolades, and success every actor dreams of, he had to adjust to fame. Over his 50-plus year career, Pacino has periodically taken breaks from filming and thought about permanently leaving the business. He still displays many of the characteristics he developed growing up as an only child of Italian immigrant parents.

Pacino has revealed that his childhood was not the happiest. His parents split up when he was a toddler. The elder Pacino left the family and moved to the West Coast. The mother then had to raise the younger Pacino alone in New York. She later moved in with her parents in the Bronx to get help raising her son.

James Gerardi was an important paternal figure for his grandson. He taught Pacino about hard work. Gerardi explained that any type of work was the joy of life. Pacino took these words to the heart. That's why it seems like acting has never been about money for him. For Pacino, it seems like it’s about pursuing and achieving the joy of life.

Pacino's career in acting could be traced back to an assembly one afternoon at his middle school. His eighth-grade teacher asked him to read psalms from the Bible for the event. Pacino's reading performance left a big impression. And the rest, as they say, is history.

That afternoon, his teacher, Blanche Rothstein, walked up five flights of stairs to his apartment in the South Bronx, according to The New Yorker’s 2014 profile of the actor. Rothstein then proceeded to talk to Pacino’s grandmother about the young man’s talent. Pacino explained that that was the first time in his life that he had ever received encouragement.

“The world we came from, the encouragement just wasn’t there. We weren’t seen. Or we weren’t regarded,” Pacino told the magazine. “Do you think ever, once in my life, my mother or any adult ever said, ‘How was school today?’ Never! It was unheard of.”

When Pacino was a child, his mother took him to film screenings and watched movies with him at home. These experiences had a significant impact on the young boy. At age 16, Pacino decided to leave home and move to Greenwich Village. He wanted to get closer to achieving his dream of becoming an actor. Later in life, Pacino went on to play the characters from the movies he watched with his mother.

Pacino grew up in the South Bronx and played with kids from the neighborhood, according to a 2013 interview with 'The Telegraph.' They had a hankering for danger back then — sometimes jumping from one roof to another on buildings. Since there was a huge drop between the buildings, one wrong move could have been fatal. Pacino would later go on to have nightmares about the roof jumping as an adult. He prefers not to think about those times and puts them out of his mind, as he explained in the interview.

Besides his dangerous escapades on the rooftops of the South Bronx, Pacino played baseball as a child and wanted to become a professional baseball player. His baseball name was “The Actor.”

Pacino did not have much interest in school growing up. He stopped attending all of his classes in junior high except for English. Things started to change when he was admitted into a performing arts high school through an audition. Pacino’s mother did not agree with his decision to pursue acting. They got into an argument, and Pacino left home. He took low-paying jobs to finance his acting studies. Pacino also acted in basement plays with New York's theatrical underground.

Pacino’s mother died at age 43, and his grandfather died a year later in 1963. As Pacino would later say, it was the lowest point of his life. They were the two most influential and beloved people in his life. He was 22 years old at the time, and it sent him into a tailspin. He spent much of the 1960s in this darkness, but eventually, Pacino decided to focus on acting.

At the age of 23, Pacino joined a theater group at Herbert Berghof Studio, according to 'The Telegraph.' He credits the group for saving his life. This group became his family, and he still considers them family to this day. Pacino was accepted into the Actors Studio at age 26. Known for developing legends like Paul Newman and James Dean, the Actors Studio helped Pacino learn his identity as an actor. While there, he was able to experiment and learn his craft.

Pacino was proud of this achievement, especially since he first applied to the Actors Studio as a teenager but was rejected. Today, he is one of the co-presidents of the studio.

Pacino's stage career started in Boston at Charles Playhouse when he got a role in Clifford Odets’ "Awake and Sing!" It was his first significant paycheck, and he made $125 a week. He then starred in "The Indian Wants the Bronx," a play by Israel Horovitz, in 1968. It ran for 177 performances, and Pacino played the role of Murph, a street punk. This play took him to Italy for the first time. Pacino performed at the Festival dei Due Mondi. Being the son of immigrants from Sicily, it was an exhilarating experience for Pacino to perform for an Italian audience.

Before getting accepted into the Actors Studio, Pacino met acting teacher Charles Laughton. Laughton became Pacino’s best friend and mentor. During this time, Pacino was often homeless and unemployed. He had to sleep at friends’ houses, theaters, and on the street. For extra cash, Pacino cleaned some of the stages that he acted on for performances.

At the Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg became Pacino’s acting coach. Strasberg was a well-respected professional credited with being the father of method acting, a technique that seeks to encourage sincere and emotionally expressive performances. Pacino became involved in several prominent acting projects under Strasberg’s leadership. Ultimately, it led to his first Tony Award in 1969. Learning from the best also allowed for an opportunity to get on the big screen.

“The Panic in Needle Park” was Pacino’s first movie. He played the role of Bobby, a heroin addict. This role caught the interest of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola was one of the most prominent figures in the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

This meeting led to the role that would forever change Pacino’s life. Coppola decided to cast Pacino for the role of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather." However, Pacino was almost cut from the cast. The studio and producers did not think he was the right person for the role. To quell their fears, Coppola showed them eight minutes of “The Panic in Needle Park.” After watching Pacino’s performance, the producers and studio decided to cast him for the role of Michael Corleone.

It seems like Pacino became famous overnight because of his early success. After “The Godfather,” he had five movies and five Oscar nominations. It was a lot to take in at once, but he kept acting. Strasberg helped Pacino to adjust through this challenging time. The mentor told him, "Darling, you simply have to adjust."

While the role of Michael Corleone made him famous, Pacino was not prepared and struggled with fame. Pacino realized he was famous one day after speaking to an attractive woman. She responded by calling him Michael. He was no longer anonymous and became recognizable in public. Pacino told Kentucky New Era in a 1997 interview, "That's what I am... I played Michael in 'The Godfather,' and I'm Michael forever."

In the 70s and 80s, Pacino continued to put on successful performances in movies like “Scarface” and “Dog Day Afternoon.” 

While these films were successful, Hollywood tried to typecast Pacino in gangster roles. He did not allow that to dissuade him and took advantage of the parts.

Today, Pacino is known for being picky about the roles he takes on in movies. Regardless, he is one of the hardest working actors in the business. Pacino has quite an extensive resume that includes television work.

Pacino is the father of three children. While he has dated many talented and successful women, he has never married. Julie Marie Pacino is the first daughter of Al Pacino. He had her with actress Jan Tarrant in October 1989. Marie followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming a director. Pacino became the father of twins Anton James and Olivia Rose later in life. Actress Beverly D’Angelo is the mother of the twins.

When the twins were younger, it was hard for them to adjust to their father’s fame, as he explained in a 2015 interview with The Guardian. They could not go to certain places with their father without being recognized. Despite those difficulties, Pacino vowed to be a better father than his dad. "I guess I was a sort of lonely child," Pacino said of his rough childhood in a 1983 interview with ABC News. That's likely why he has made a stronger effort to be present in the lives of his three children.

Pacino moved to the West Coast when his relationship ended with Beverly D’Angelo. He wanted to participate in the raising of his children. It has likely been the most important role of his life, and it has not been easy. However, Pacino’s relationship with his kids is proof that anyone can improve and grow.

Did you know that Al Pacino was not always on top? Please tell us your thoughts. And be sure to pass this on to your family members and friends!