LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Al Pacino: Richard Iii
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Al Pacino joined other Hollywood heavy-hitters by receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 16,1997. Also in that year, he gained high praise for portraying Johnny Depp's FBI partner, Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero, in the film version of Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley's book, Donnie Brasco. The rest of the 1990s saw Pacino in such films as Devil's Advocate (1997, alongside Keanu Reeves), Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday (1999, with Cameron Diaz), and the movie version of Marie Brenner's article, The Insider (1999, opposite Russell Crowe).
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Former NYC deputy mayor Ken Lipper scripted "City Hall" (1996), which cast childhood friend Pacino as a compassionate mayor embroiled in a corruption scandal, teaming him for the first time with another Bronx native, Danny Aiello. Though a descent into implausible melodrama compromised its compelling beginning, “City Hall†proved to be another that stood out as one of Pacino’s more intriguing films. Meanwhile, Pacino finished work after four years on "Looking for Richard" (1996), which he finally unveiled to great acclaim. Whittled down to two hours from more than 80 of raw footage, this documentary followed the actor-director in an exploration of Shakespeare’s first great tragedy, Richard III, while examining the relevance of The Bard to people in every walk of life. Pacino was back on Broadway as director and star of Eugene O'Neill's "Hughie" in 1996 – his first visit to the NYC boards since his 1992 performances in "Salome" and "Chinese Coffee†– the latter of which became his next pet project as filmmaker. He finished shooting in 1997, but waited until 2000 to show “Chinese Coffee†at festivals.
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Former NYC deputy mayor Ken Lipper scripted "City Hall" (1996), which cast childhood friend Pacino as a compassionate NYC mayor embroiled in a corruption scandal and teamed him for the first time with another Bronx native Danny Aiello. Though a descent into implausible melodrama compromised its compelling beginning, another project that year stands as one of the most intriguing of his career. Pacino had worked four years on "Looking for Richard" (1996) before finally unveiling it to great acclaim. Distilled down to two hours from more than 80, this documentary-style film about the actor-director's staging of "Richard III" explored the relevance of Shakespeare to people in every walk of life and proved there was a limited market for his inspired vision. He was back on Broadway as director and star of Eugene O'Neill's "Hughie" in 1996, his first visit to the NYC boards since his 1992 performances in "Salome" and "Chinese Coffee", the latter becoming his next pet project as filmmaker. He finished shooting it in 1997, but his modus operandi established on his two previous films has remained the same.
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In 1973 Pacino starred in the very successful Serpico and the less popular Scarecrow alongside Gene Hackman. In 1974, Pacino reprised his role as Michael Corleone in the very successful sequel The Godfather Part II, acclaimed as being comparable to the original. In 1975, he enjoyed further success with the release of Dog Day Afternoon, based on the true story of a bank robber John Wojtowicz. In 1977, Pacino starred as a race-car driver in Bobby Deerfield, directed by Sydney Pollock and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama, for his portrayal of Bobby Deerfield, but lost out to Richard Burton, who ultimately won for Equus.
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After a string of motion pictures that did not achieve great commercial success, Pacino returned to acting in the theater, winning a second Tony Award in 1977 for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. His movie career revived with the success of Sea of Love (1989), and he won an Academy Award for his performance as a suicidal, blind war veteran in Scent of a Woman (1992). In 1996 Pacino made his directorial debut with Looking for Richard, a film about actors preparing to stage a production of the play Richard III by English dramatist William Shakespeare. The following year Pacino played the Devil disguised as a lawyer in The Devil’s Advocate.
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The quality of Pacino's performances, as well as his larger-than-life onscreen presence (Pacino stands about 5'6"), have established him as one of the greatest actors in motion picture history. Pacino still performs theatre work and has ... dabbled in direction, his first film, The Local Stigmatic remains unreleased but his other two works, Looking for Richard and Chinese Coffee are both highly acclaimed.
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Richard Iii