Al Pacino recalls how his mother 'saved his life' before her fatal overdose as he credits her with his Oscar-winning career By Terry Zeller For Dailymail.com Published: 03:44, 29 August 2024 | Updated: 03:52, 29 August 2024 e-mail View comments Al Pacino reflects on how his late mother influenced his Oscar-winning career in his new book Sonny Boy: A Memoir. Raised in The Bronx by his mother Rose and his grandparents after his parents’ divorce, the Godfather star, now 84, believes that her love of movies guided him toward his future path.
Although Rose struggled with addiction, including a suicide attempt when Al was six and a fatal overdose when he was 22, the actor said he realized how grateful he was to have had her in his life while preparing an acceptance speech for the 1992 Oscar for Scent of a Woman. 'One day I’m 52, looking in the vanity mirror, wondering whom I should thank in an acceptance speech,' he wrote in Sonny Boy, per an excerpt in The New Yorker . 'I realize that I’m still here because of my mother.
Of course, that’s who I have to thank. She’s the one who parried me away from a path that led to delinquency and violence, to heroin. 'I lost three [friends] that way.
I was not under strict surveillance but my mother paid attention to where I was. She saved my life.' Al Pacino reflects on how his late mother influenced his Oscar-winning career in his new autobiography Sonny Boy: A Memoir; (pictured 2023) Raised in The Bronx by his mother Rose (picture.