American Decades
Pacino, Al 1940-
ACTOR
Theater.
Al Pacino burst onto the New York theater scene in the late 1960s. He received an Obie nomination (for Off-Broadway productions) for Why Is a Crooked Letter (1966), competing against George C. Scott and eventual winner Dustin Hoffman. He won the award two years later for his portrayal of a savage young hoodlum in The Indian Wants the Bronx. By 1969 his angry energy had won him several important roles and a Tony award for best supporting actor in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? Hollywood began to take notice of Pacino's talent for playing urban outsiders and cast him as a junkie in Panic in Needle Park (1969). Although many critics and viewers noted certain similarities to Hoffman, Pacino's acting had a unique edge that reminded Lee Strasberg, head of the New York Actors' Studio, of a young Marlon Brando.
Corleone.
Director Francis Ford Coppola saw Pacino onstage in New...
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1970's The Arts
