Al Pacino is considered a Hollywood legend and has starred in iconic films such as the Godfather trilogy and Scarface.
But the prolific star, 84, recalled a clash with his late mother, Rose Gerard Pacino, over his choice to become an actor in his new memoir Sonny Boy, named after his mother’s nickname for him.
The actor – who revealed he had gone bankrupt twice during his career – and his ’emotionally fragile’ single mother had fallen out when he left some classes at school and moved away.
Rose, who struggled with depression, later died of an overdose when Pacino was just 22, and did not live to see her son’s meteoric rise.
‘If I’m lucky, if I get to heaven, I might be reunited with my mother there. All I want is the chance to walk up to her, look her in the eye and simply say, “Hey mom, look what happened to me?” he wrote, according to the Mirror.
Legendary movie icon Al Pacino, 84, recalled clashing with his mother Rose over his choice to become an actor; depicted as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972)
Rose, who struggled with depression, died of an overdose when Pacino was just 22, and did not live to see her son’s meteoric rise; she is pictured in 1940
One of the most influential actors of the 20th century, Pacino has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
His impressive list of accolades also includes four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and prestigious lifetime achievement awards such as the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2001), the AFI Life Achievement Award (2007), the National Medal of Arts (2011) and the Kennedy Center Honors (2016).
He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman (1992).
He was also nominated for The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), …And Justice for All (1979), Dick Tracy (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and The Irishman (2019).
He also starred in such memorable films as Scarface (1983), The Godfather Part III (1990), Carlito’s Way (1993), Heat (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Devil’s Advocate (both 1997), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and House of Gucci (2021).
Born in Manhattan, New York City, on April 25, 1940 as Alfredo James Pacino, he was the only child of Sicilian Italian-American parents Rose (née Gerardi) and Salvatore Pacino.
His parents divorced when he was only two years old, and he went to live with his mother and her parents.
Pacino’s mother died in 1962 at the age of 43.
The actor spoke about his desire to reunite with his mother in heaven in his new memoir Sonny Boy, named after her nickname for him
‘If I’m lucky, if I get to heaven, I might be reunited with my mother there. All I want is the chance to walk up to her, look her in the eye and simply say, “Hey mom, look what happened to me?” he wrote, according to the Mirror; seen in 2023
Born in Manhattan, New York City, on April 25, 1940 as Alfredo James Pacino, he was the only child of Sicilian Italian-American parents Rose (née Gerardi) and Salvatore Pacino; seen with his parents in 1940
His parents divorced when he was only two years old, and he went to live with his mother and her parents. Pacino’s mother died in 1962 at the age of 43; in the photo with his father
After starring as a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), he caught the attention of director Francis Ford Coppola, who cast him as Michael Corleone in the iconic mafia film The Godfather (1972).
The relatively unknown actor faced stiff competition and auditioned alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford and Warren Beatty.
But to the dismay of studio executives, Coppola chose Pacino to play the role of the youngest son of the head of the Corleone mafia family, who later reluctantly becomes involved in the criminal underworld and eventually heads the family.
From there, his acting career has continued to soar to new heights.
His latest film offering was the Johnny Depp-directed biographical drama “Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness.”
Elsewhere in the memoir, he revealed that his hugely successful films didn’t stop him from going bankrupt – twice.
In the book, out now, the prolific actor writes how his early hits didn’t earn him much income by Hollywood standards, leaving him penniless in the mid-1980s when he was still working little.
Decades later, he found himself empty-handed again after his blockbusters became increasingly rare, even as his expenses had skyrocketed.
Pacino, who has never married, writes in the book how his then girlfriend Diane Keaton helped him overcome a first brush with insolvency in the mid-1980s.
Pacino’s money problems ironically begin with one of his greatest successes, The Godfather.
One of the most influential actors of the 20th century, Pacino has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards; pictured on the set of The Godfather 2 (1974)
In addition to the Godfather trilogy, he also starred in such memorable films as Scarface (1983), Carlito’s Way (1993), Heat (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Devil’s Advocate (both 1997) and Serpico (1973). just a few; seen from Scarface
He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman (1992); seen in a still from the film starring Gabrielle Anwar
Despite starring in that film, Pacino was overshadowed by Marlon Brando as his on-screen father, who would win the Oscar for Best Actor for his critically acclaimed performance.
And because Pacino was so early in his career, he reportedly only earned about $35,000 for his performance, which in today’s dollars would be about $265,000 — well below the expected payday of a leading man for a hugely successful Oscar winner created by a large studio.
“When I finished making The Godfather I was broke, not that I’d ever had any money, but now I owed money,” Pacino wrote via Page six. ‘My manager and agents took a cut of my salary, while I had to live off the support of Jill Clayburgh.’
It wasn’t until 1983’s Scarface that Pacino had another big hit. He writes that the Brian De Palma-directed remake was his most lucrative film ever.
‘To this day it is still the greatest film I have ever made. The residual flows still support me,” he writes. “I can make a living from it,” he adds. “I mean, I could do that if I lived like a normal person.”