Al Pacino
The Authorized Biography
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Not only is Al Pacino known as 'one of the greatest actors in all of film history', he is also considered 'one of Hollywood's most notorious bachelors' (imdb.com) as well as being one of the most enigmatic and private celebrities in the world.
For the first time, AL PACINO offers a deeply personal and revealing window into everything from his growing up in the South Bronx, where he shared three rooms with nine people, to his fabled studies with Charles Laughton and Lee Strasberg, his father's absence, his mother's early death, and how he bounced through a series of odd jobs until his first paid role at the age of 26. He reveals his childhood dream of becoming a professional baseball player, describes his first drink at 13, and admits his once ate Valium like popcorn at the Academy Awards. Though he has been involved with women like Diane Keaton and Beverly D'Angelo, the mother of his three children, he has never married and here reveals why, and how his feelings have changed.
Through it all, he has delivered some of the most seminal performances in film and theatre history and worked with most of its biggest stars. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards before winning Best Actor Oscar for Scent of a Woman. AL PACINO is an intensely personal look at a creative genius at the peak of his powers who, after all these years, still longs to learn more about his art. And for now, it's a close to a memoir as we are likely to get.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Grobel, who literally wrote the book on interviewing (The Art of the Interview), puts his talent on full display in this compilation of interviews conducted with Al Pacino over 25 years, giving the reader as much insight into interviewing style as into the legendary actor. Notoriously private, Pacino shares stories about his formative years, his preference for the theater over movies and how he handles criticism. Pacino's views on acting, punctuated by stories of preparing for iconic roles like Tony Montana in Scarface, are fascinating, and his obvious passion for and dedication to acting in all its forms is inspiring. But it's the personal side of Pacino many readers will look for, and Grobel does a deft and graceful job eliciting tales from the actor's upbringing and notorious fear of romantic commitment. Although the two are friends, Grobel maintains a respectful distance in the book, allowing Pacino the slack to cut things short or-after a few attempts-decline to answer. Part of the book's draw, however, is witnessing the two become closer as the years go by, their conversations becoming less formal and more intimate, making for increasingly engaging and illuminating reading. Until the famously shy Pacino authorizes a proper, official biography, this title makes a fine substitute.
