For more than a quarter century, Al Pacino has spoken freely and
deeply with acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Lawrence
Grobel on subjects as diverse as childhood, acting, and fatherhood.
Here, for the first time, are the complete conversations and shared
observations between the actor and the writer; the result is an
intimate and revealing look at one of the most accomplished, and
private, artists in the world.
Pacino grew up sharing a three-room apartment in the Bronx with
nine people in what he describes as his "New York Huckleberry Finn"
childhood. Raised mostly by his grandparents and his mother, Pacino
began drinking at age thirteen. Shortly after he was admitted to
the renowned High School for Performing Arts, his classmates
nicknamed him "Marlon," after Marlon Brando, even though Pacino
didn''t know who Brando was. Renowned acting coach Charlie Laughton
saw Pacino when he was nineteen in the stairwell of a Bronx
tenement, and the first words out of Laughton''s mouth were "You
are going to be a star." And so began a fabled, lifelong friendship
that nurtured Al through years of not knowing where his next meal
would come from until finally -- at age twenty-six -- he landed his
first salaried acting job.
Grobel and Pacino leave few stones unturned, touching on the
times when Pacino played piano in jazz clubs until four a.m. before
showing up on the set of Scarecrow a few hours later for a full
day''s work; when he ate Valium like candy at the Academy Awards;
and when he realized he had been in a long pattern of work and
drink.
As the pivotal character in "The Godfather" trilogy and the cult
classic "Scarface," Pacino has enshrined himself in film history.
He''s workedwith most of Hollywood''s brightest luminaries such as
Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann, Norman Jewison,
Brian De Palma, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Sean
Penn, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Robin
Williams, among many others. He was nominated for eight Academy
Awards before winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in
"Scent of a Woman," Pacino still seems to prefer his work onstage
to film and, if he''s moved by a script or play, is quick to take
parts in independent productions.
"Al Pacino" is an intensely personal window into the life of an
artist concerned more with the process of his art than with the
fruits of his labor, a creative genius at the peak of his artistic
powers who, after all these years, still longs to grow and learn
more about his craft. And, for now, it''s as close to a memoir as
we''re likely to get.