Al Pacino | Biography, Movies, Scarface, & Facts - Britannica

Academy Award and later films

Sea of Love (1989), his biggest hit in years, reestablished Pacino as a major film star. In 1990 he reprised the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III and gave a hilarious portrayal of grotesque gangster Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy. Frankie and Johnny (1991) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), both adaptations of plays, continued his string of well-received films, and he won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a bitter blind man in Scent of a Woman (1992). Pacino’s other notable films of the 1990s included Carlito’s Way (1993); Heat (1995), a crime drama in which he played a detective hunting a thief (Robert De Niro); Donnie Brasco (1997), in which he starred as a low-level mobster who unknowingly befriends an FBI agent (Johnny Depp); and Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday (1999). Also in 1999 Pacino appeared opposite Russell Crowe in The Insider; based on real-life events, it examines tobacco companies and their efforts to conceal the dangerous side effects of cigarettes.

Pacino’s prolific acting career continued into the 21st century. In 2002 he starred with Robin Williams in the thriller Insomnia, and he later appeared in Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), the final installment of a popular comedy trilogy that featured George Clooney and Brad Pitt. After skewering his public persona with a role as himself in the Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill (2011), Pacino played an aging gangster in Stand Up Guys (2012). He evinced the isolation of a small-town locksmith in Manglehorn (2014) and the late-life epiphany of a rock star in Danny Collins (2015). After a series of roles in unremarkable movies, Pacino joined a cast of colorful characters in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019). He then costarred with De Niro in The Irishman (2019), his first film with director Martin Scorsese. In the mob drama, which received a theatrical release before airing on Netflix, Pacino played labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, whose disappearance in 1975 caused much speculation. For his performance, Pacino earned his 10th Oscar nomination. In 2021 he appeared as a lawyer in American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally, which was based on the true story of Mildred Gillars, a radio propagandist for the Nazi government during World War II. That year Pacino was also cast in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, which centers on the true story of the murder of Maurizio Gucci, who headed his family’s luxury fashion brand.

Access for the whole family! Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination. Subscribe