Alfredo James Pacino was born in New York on May 25th 1940. He wanted to be an actor from a young age, performing in dozens of school plays. After leaving school he attended audition after audition but failed to land the one big break that all actors need.

However, everything changed in 1966 when he was accepted into the world famous Actors Studio where he studied under the legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg. It wasn't long before young Al was making a name for himself on stage, winning an Obie award for The Indian Wants the Bronx, and then a Tony Award for Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?.

Al's feature film debut came in Me, Natalie (1969) but it was his performance as a junkie in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), that brought him to the attention to Hollywood. Indeed it was enough for filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola to cast him in arguably the lead role in his next movie. The role was Michael Corleone, the film was The Godfather (1972), and the rest is history.

Since then, Al has established himself as one of the greatest actors in the history of motion pictures. Amongst his best performances are Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Scarface (1983), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and of course the Godfather sequels.