Al Pacino
Al Pacino’s Family Roots in Corleone, Sicily
Al Pacino's grandparents emigrated from Corleone, Sicily to New York City in the early 1900s. Corleone, Sicily is also the city that Vito Corleone hailed from in the film The Godfather. His grandparents did not get rich when they came to America, and Al Pacino's early life was a struggle with his family being extremely poor. Pacino soon became a high school drop out and had a series of random jobs such as: messenger, clerk, and janitor. He even became homeless for a short time during the 1960s.Despite being poor and a dropout, Pacino's mother and grandfather encouraged him to pursue acting. He would spend countless hours watching old movies on his grandparent's black and white television. He often acted out scenes for his grandparents. However, in 1962 his mother died, and his grandfather died the following year. Pacino recalled it as "the lowest point of my life"; he said, "I was 22 and the two most influential people in my life had gone, so that sent me into a tailspin.
His film career started in 1969 with a brief appearance in Me, Natalie. He received the attention of director Francis For Coppola after his role as a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park. He was then casted as Michael Corleone in The Godfather and his career took off from there.
Al Pacino's childhood is one that many Italian-American immigrants can relate to. Many Italian-American families were poor and struggled to make ends meet. In addition, many Italian-Americans dropped out of school as well, especially in New York. Many Italian-American students suffer low self-esteem because of the stereotypes. A study released in 1990 showed that 20.65 percent, or 1 in 5, will not finish high school in New York. The reasons for the high dropout rate included not only poor self-esteem and self-images, but also factors like peer pressure, parental ignorance about education and the belief that the benefits of education did not outweigh working. Knowing his backstory and seeing how successful he became was very inspiring for many Italian-American throughout the country. If he can succeed than so can they. Not only did his personal life have an effect on people, but the roles he played and the movies he starred in impacted Italians as well.
