By Gina Yarbrough
Los Angeles, CA–Legendary actor Al Pacino will receive SAG-AFTRA’s 62nd Life Achievement Award, honoring his more than six decades in film, television, and theater, as well as his humanitarian contributions.
The 86-year-old actor will be presented with the union’s highest honor during the 33rd annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA, streaming live on Netflix on Feb. 28, 2027, at 5 p.m. from the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
The award recognizes performers who embody the “finest ideals of the acting profession” through their work and contributions to the industry.
“Like so many actors, I have spent my life in awe and appreciation of the force of nature that is Al Pacino,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said. “When you watch him perform, you are witnessing a student and a master.”
Pacino said his lifelong passion for acting and the people he has worked alongside have been among his greatest sources of fulfillment.
“I wondered and wandered most of my life but have always felt at home with a script and my fellow actors,” Pacino said. “It’s the work and the actors along the way that have been among the greatest joys of my life. It’s an honor to be recognized by SAG-AFTRA in celebrating the journey.”
Pacino rose to international prominence in 1972 when director Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. The performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination and launched a career filled with some of cinema’s most enduring characters.
He reprised the role in The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990), cementing his place among Hollywood’s most influential actors.
During the 1970s, Pacino earned additional Oscar nominations for Serpico (1973), The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and …And Justice for All (1979). His performance alongside Gene Hackman in Scarecrow (1973) further demonstrated his range as a dramatic actor.
Another defining role came in Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983), in which Pacino portrayed Cuban immigrant and drug kingpin, Tony Montana. The film went on to become a cultural touchstone, with Montana’s character remaining one of the actor’s most recognizable performances.
After stepping away from film for several years, Pacino returned with Sea of Love (1989) and continued building an acclaimed body of work.
In 1993, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lt. Col. Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992). That same year, he became the first male actor to receive two acting Oscar nominations for performances in different films, also earning a supporting actor nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
His extensive filmography includes Carlito’s Way (1993), Heat (1995), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Insider (1999), Insomnia (2002), The Merchant of Venice (2004), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and House of Gucci (2021).
Pacino received his ninth Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019), his first collaboration with the director.
His more recent projects include Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness (2024), which he co-produced, along with The Ritual, Billy Knight, Dead Man’s Wire, In the Hand of Dante and Easy’s Waltz in 2025, followed by Killing Castro in 2026.
Although best known for his film work, Pacino has also earned widespread recognition for his television performances.
He won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe and an Actor Award for portraying controversial attorney Roy Cohn in HBO’s 2003 miniseries Angels in America, adapted from Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
In 2010, Pacino portrayed physician-assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian in HBO’s You Don’t Know Jack. The performance earned him a second Primetime Emmy Award, another Golden Globe, and his second Actor Award.
He later portrayed record producer Phil Spector in the 2013 HBO film Phil Spector and former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in Paterno (2018).
In 2020, Pacino made his episodic-series debut as Nazi hunter Meyer Offerman in Amazon Prime Video’s Hunters, appearing in both seasons of the drama.
His theater career began in the 1960s and quickly established him as a formidable stage performer. In 1968, he earned an Obie Award for his performance in Israel Horovitz’s The Indian Wants the Bronx.
Pacino made his Broadway debut in 1969 in Don Petersen’s Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, earning his first Tony Award. He received a second Tony for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and went on to appear in productions of Richard III, American Buffalo, Julius Caesar, Hughie and Salome.
His portrayal of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice earned critical acclaim when the production transferred from Shakespeare in the Park to Broadway in 2010.
Pacino later returned to Broadway in the 30th-anniversary revival of Glengarry Glen Ross and in David Mamet’s China Doll, written specifically for him.
Shakespeare’s Globe recently honored Pacino with the Sam Wanamaker Award for his contributions to theater and film, particularly his interpretations of Shakespeare’s works.
In addition to his artistic achievements, Pacino has supported charitable causes, disaster relief, and international humanitarian initiatives.
He participated in the 2001 America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon, which raised support for victims and families affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. In 2005, he supported the ONE Campaign’s Make Poverty History initiative, which focused on extreme poverty, hunger, and AIDS.
He also took part in a 2012 public service campaign supporting Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. In 2023, Pacino revisited his memorable “inch by inch” speech from Any Given Sunday for the Halftime campaign, drawing attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
His charitable work has also included benefit performances supporting the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. Through those efforts, he reprised roles in The Merchant of Venice and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, as well as participating in Al Pacino Live on Stage, a career retrospective featuring conversations with audiences.
The premiere of his documentary-drama Wilde Salomé in 2012 also benefited the GLBT Historical Society.
In 2009, Pacino received the Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award from the Southern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation in recognition of his charitable giving and support for people affected by arthritis.
The SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award adds another distinction to a career that has spanned generations, genres, and mediums, celebrating not only Pacino’s influence on acting but also his enduring contributions to the entertainment industry and humanitarian causes.
