Everything Al Pacino has said about fatherhood – and being abandoned by his dad

Al Pacino’s dad has had an undeniable impact on how the Scarface actor parents his three children as he prepares to welcome his fourth kid at the age of 83.

In the past, the Scarface actor has cited his father Sal’s abandonment at the age of two as a driving factor for his unruly teen years, saying: ‘The conclusion of my teachers was that I needed a dad.’

Pacino announced the news about the impending arrival of his fourth child just weeks after his close pal Robert De Niro announced that he had fathered a seventh baby at the ripe old age of 79 – an admission that saw him slammed as ‘selfish’, both because of his age and the potential health risks that it could pose to a newborn. 

By his own admission, Pacino knows the struggles that can be caused by growing up without a father – and he has opened up over the years about how his single-parent upbringing increased his own determination to ‘be there’ for his kids. 

In the past, the Heat actor has described himself as a troubled child – citing his father’s absence as a driving factor for his unruly ways. Sal and Al pictured circa 1954

However that has not been without its struggles – with the actor confessing more than 20 years ago that he was left exhausted when he fathered twins at the age of 60.

After having twins Anton James and Olivia Rose in 2001, Pacino said raising the infants was nothing compared to the ‘fourteen hours’ filming a day.’

He added he would go out to dinner and get ‘talking to a very interesting person,’ but would end up ‘falling asleep.’ 

Two decades on, late night feeds and diaper changes are likely to have become no less exhausting.  

His presence in his kids’ lives is very different to his own childhood that saw Pacino’s father Sal leave the Hollywood star and his mother when he was just two years old after the couple split.

‘It’s the missing link, so to speak,’ Pacino told The New Yorker in a 2014 interview.

‘Having children has helped a lot. I consciously knew that I didn’t want to be like my dad. I wanted to be there. I have three children. I’m responsible to them. I’m a part of their life. When I’m not, it’s upsetting to me and to them.’

Despite never marrying, the Godfather star has three children with two different women.

‘The conclusion of my teachers was that I needed a dad. I wasn’t an out-of-control teenager, but I was close,’ he said. The actor pictured with Sal in 1997

Pacino pictured as a baby with Sal and Rose in 1940. His dad abandoned them when he was just two years old

And soon he will become a dad-of-four after news emerged he and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, are expecting.

Previously he welcomed daughter Julie Marie with acting coach Jan Tarrant in 1989. 

In 2001, he and actress Beverly D’Angelo had twins Anton James and Olivia Rose, just three months before he celebrated his 61st birthday.

‘Fourteen hours’ filming a day is nothing compared to this,’ he told The Mirror following the birth of the twins, as per Nicki Swift.

‘Family is a major part of my life now. There’s a sense of being at home and a feeling of belonging which I’ve never had before.’

He continued by quipping: ‘But you gotta be in shape, man! I go out to dinner and I’m talking to a very interesting person and I’m falling asleep!’ 

And Pacino wants their childhoods to be better than one he experienced. 

Previously, the Heat actor has described himself as a troubled kid, saying his father’s absence was to blame.

‘The conclusion of my teachers was that I needed a dad. I wasn’t an out-of-control teenager, but I was close,’ he told The Guardian in 2015.

‘My parents divorced when I was two and my father wasn’t in my life from then. I wanted to be different with my children….

Pacino and his girlfriend, Noor, were pictured headed out to the restaurant E Baldi in LA last month 

‘Kids changed my perspective. Before I had my three, I’d walk around in my own head, not noticing anything. Acting used to be everything; now, because of them, it’s just a small part.’

Eventually Sal went on to marry five times, with Pacino telling Esquire in 2003: ‘What does that tell me? That he liked married life. OK, what does it tell me? It tells me we’re creatures of habit.’ 

Sal was an insurance salesman for 30 years before becoming a restaurateur, according to the Los Angeles Times.

He owned Covina restaurant and bar Pacino’s Lounge, just outside of LA, until he retired in 1991. Pacino’s father died of a heart attack in 2005.

The actor also spoke briefly about his decision to never marry.

‘On women, I can be funny and glib. Or I really can try to tell you. Where to start?’ he told Esquire.

‘I have always enjoyed the company of women. I have very close women friends. 

‘I could probably sit here for a long time and tell you why that is, or why I think it is. But to say a lot would be an understatement, right?’

Pacino and Alfallah have been romantically linked since April 2022. 

They were seen together last month at the upscale Los Angeles eatery E Baldi.

News of the pregnancy comes in the same month that the actor’s longtime colleague Robert De Niro, 79, welcomed his seventh child with girlfriend Tiffany Chen.