Is Al Pacino Italian ?

Many people are confused about Al Pacino's nationality and wonder: "Is Al Pacino Italian?"

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Well, Al Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director, born in East Harlem, New York City to Italian American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose, who divorced when he was two years old.

To take things from the very beginning, when Pacino was two, his mother moved to the South Bronx near the Bronx Zoo, to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who originated from Corleone, Sicily. His father Salvatore (son of Alfio who emigrated from San Fratello, Sicily) moved to Covina, California, and worked as an insurance salesman and restaurateur.


To be more specific, Al Pacino is a second-generation American whose grandparents emigrated from Sicily, but despite living in his grandparents' home, he speaks no Italian.


The question is: "Does Al Pacino consider himself all Italian?" 

When Pacino was asked by Rebecca Winters Keegan from Time Magazine about Italian-American Culture and its represantion in film and TV, he replied: "Explain to me what Italian-American culture is. We've been here 100 years. Isn't Italian-American culture American culture? That's because we're so diverse, in terms of intermarriage. Most everybody who's Italian is half Italian. Except me. I'm all Italian. I'm mostly Sicilian, and I have a little bit of Neapolitan in me. You get your full dose with me".

Conclusion: In spite of not speaking Italian Pacino thinks of himself as all Italian because his family has Italian roots. It seems he is very proud of his Italian heritage! What do you think?



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