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Al Pacino Timeline

Al Pacino - Timeline 1940-1980

Born Alfredo James Pacino to Sicilians Rose and Salvatore Alfred Pacino in East Harlem, New York City. [MORE] [ADD]

– Failing academically, he decides to drop out of school and leaves home following an argument with his mother over the decision. [MORE] [ADD]

– While taking acting lessons, he works at several jobs for the next three years, including cinema usher, messenger boy and building superintendent.   Also works in the mailroom of Commentary magazine. [MORE] [ADD]

– Gains acting experience at such off-off-Broadway venues as Café LaMaMa and Living Theatre. [MORE] [ADD]

 Released from jail. [MORE] [ADD]

– Performs in Jack and the Bean Stalk and The Adventures of High Jump at the Cafe Bizarre children's theatre in New York City. [MORE] [ADD]

– Studies at the Actor’s Studio under Lee Strasberg, who later appears with Pacino in The Godfather Part II (1974). [MORE] [ADD]

– Appears in Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing! at the Charles Playhouse in Boston. [MORE] [ADD]

– Begins a five-year relationship with actress Jill Clayburgh after meeting her while appearing together in Jean-Claude Van Itallie’s America, Hurrah.   The couple move back to New York together. [MORE] [ADD]

Stars in Israel Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx at the Astor Place Theater in New York for 177 performances, and wins an Obie Award for his role as Murph, one of two men who terrorise an Indian (John Cazale).   It runs as one half of a double-bill.   Clayburgh stars in the other play, It’s Called the Sugar Plum, which is also written by Horovitz. [MORE] [ADD]

Appears as John James in ‘Deadly Circle of Violence’ an episode of the TV series N.Y.P.D.   Girlfriend Jill Clayburgh appears in the same episode. [MORE] [ADD]

– Martin Bregman becomes Pacino’s manager after seeing him in The Indian Wants the Bronx. [MORE] [ADD]

Makes his Broadway theatre debut as Bickham, a psychotic drug addict in Don Petersen’s Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? at the Belasco Theater. [MORE] [ADD]

Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? closes after 39 performances. [MORE] [ADD]

Wins a Tony Award for his role in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? [MORE] [ADD]

Jerry Schatzberg’s Panic in Needle Park, in which Pacino stars as a drug addict, is released.  His performance brings him to the attention of Francis Ford Coppola who is casting for his new film, The Godfather.   Coppola casts him in the role of Michael Corleone, much against the wishes of Paramount’s executives.  More established actors attached to the role include Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. [MORE] [ADD]

The Godfather is released.  Appearing opposite Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, James Caan and Diane Keaton, Pacino is nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. [MORE] [ADD]

Appears opposite Gene Hackman in Jerry Schatzberg’s Scarecrow.   He wins the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or for his performance. [MORE] [ADD]

Pacino’s reprisal of the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II earns him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. [MORE] [ADD]

Stars with John Cazale in Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon as a bank robber who holds staff and customers hostage in a botched robbery staged to pay for his gay lover’s sex change operation.   Pacino is nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. [MORE] [ADD]

Plays the title role in Sidney Pollack’s Bobby Deerfield. [MORE] [ADD]

– Wins a second Tony Award for his stage performance in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, a role he had previously played earlier in the 70s in Boston. [MORE] [ADD]  

– Turns down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars. [MORE] [ADD]

– Turns down the role of Captain Willard in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. [MORE] [ADD]  

…And Justice for All is released.   Pacino receives a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance. [MORE] [ADD]

Pacino’s role in Cruising as an undercover cop hunting a serial killer targeting gay men marks the beginning of a number of critically slated roles in the 80s which will lead to a four year hiatus in his career later in the decade. [MORE] [ADD]

– Appears for the first time as Walter ‘Teach’ Cole in David Mamet’s American Buffalo, a role he will play in a variety of venues both off- and on Broadway over the next three years. [MORE] [ADD]