Alfredo James Pacino better known simply as Al Pacino was born on April 25th, 1940. He is best known for his film work in the Godfather Trilogy and Scarface.

Life was not always easy for Al Pacino, his parents divorced when he was only two years old. His early years were a time of great struggle. He didnt do well in school and in fact dropped out when he was 17 because he was failing almost everything except English. His mother was not impressed with his decision and as a result of this he moved out of her house.

Al Pacino knew from early on that he wanted to be an actor and the only way he was going to succeed at this was to take acting lessons. He worked at many low paying public service positions in order to finance his dream. At this stage in his life it was not uncommon for him to be completely unemployed and at some points even homeless.

Al Pacino finally caught a break in 1966 when he was accepted to study in The Actors Studio. He credits part of his success in his acting career to The Actors Studio and Lee Strasberg who was his acting coach while he was there. Within a year of being with The Actors Studio he landed a role in the play Awake and Sing at the Charles Playhouse in Boston. This marked his first well paid success at $125 a week.

In 1969 Al Pacino was offered his first role on Broadway in the play titled Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? As a result of his success with this play he won his first Tony Award. This same year he had his first small role on film with the movie titled Me, Natalie. Al Pacinos career only flourished from this point forward.

Al Pacino landed the role of Michael Corleone in the movie The Godfather; and as a result of the success of this role he earned his first Academy Award nomination. His success in the 70s and onward only continued from there as he won a second Tony Award for his role in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. It was in this decade that he was nominated for the Best Actor Golden Globe award for four different films.

It was in the early 1980s that Al Pacino would land the role of Tony Montana in the film Scarface. This role was most definitely a career highlight for him and it earned him yet another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. This was only one of the many projects that he worked on in the 80s, other successes for him in that decade included his role in the play American Buffalo, in which he earned a nomination for a Drama Desk Award.

Al Pacinos career still continues to be going strong; he is now one of the co-presidents of The Actors Studio, and continues to light up the screen in major motion pictures to this day. However, there is no doubt that when most people hear his name they will always think of his roles in the Godfather and Scarface.