If you asked a casual movie fan how many Oscars Al Pacino has sitting on his mantel, they’d probably guess four or five. Maybe even more. It makes sense. He's the guy from The Godfather. He's the guy from Scarface. He’s essentially the face of American cinema from the 1970s.
But here’s the reality: Al Pacino has won exactly one Academy Award.
One. That’s it. For a guy who has been nominated nine times across five different decades, it feels like a statistical anomaly. Or a crime. Honestly, looking back at the Al Pacino Academy Awards history is like looking at a masterclass in "the right actor at the wrong time." He spent twenty years being the best actor in the room and walking home empty-handed, only to finally win for a movie that many critics argue wasn't even his best work.
✨ Don't miss: You Can Call Me Al Video: What Really Happened Between Paul Simon and Chevy Chase
It’s a weird, frustrating, and fascinating trajectory.
The 1970s: The Great Snub Streak
The 70s were Pacino's decade. Nobody was doing it like him. Between 1973 and 1976, he was nominated for an Oscar four years in a row. That kind of run is unheard of.
It started with The Godfather in 1973. Pacino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Michael Corleone. This is where the drama starts. Legend has it—and he’s basically confirmed this in his recent memoir Sonny Boy—that he was pretty annoyed about being tucked into the "Supporting" category. If you’ve seen the movie, you know Michael is the lead. He has more screen time than Marlon Brando! Pacino actually skipped the ceremony that year. He says now it was more about his struggle with sudden fame than a direct protest, but the "snub" narrative stuck. He lost to Joel Grey for Cabaret.
Then came the lead actor nominations:
- 1974: Serpico (Lost to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger)
- 1975: The Godfather Part II (Lost to Art Carney for Harry and Tonto)
- 1976: Dog Day Afternoon (Lost to Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
The 1975 loss is the one that still makes film buffs scream into their pillows. His performance in The Godfather Part II is widely considered one of the greatest pieces of screen acting in the history of the medium. It's quiet, chilling, and transformative. Losing to Art Carney—a great actor, sure, but playing a man traveling with his cat—is often cited as one of the biggest "what happened?" moments in Oscar history.
Finally Winning: The "Scent of a Woman" Moment
By the time 1993 rolled around, the Academy felt like they owed him. It was a "makeup" Oscar year. You’ve probably seen the ceremony where he finally won for Scent of a Woman. He walks up, looking sharp, and starts his speech with "You broke my streak."
What most people forget about that night is that he was actually a double nominee. He was up for Best Actor for playing the blind, "HOO-AH!" shouting Colonel Frank Slade, and also for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Ricky Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross.
💡 You might also like: Darth Vader Broken Mask Moments: What the Shattered Helmets Actually Tell Us
He lost the supporting award to Gene Hackman earlier in the evening. At that point, the tension in the room was thick. If he’d lost the lead category too, after being nominated twice in one night, it would have been a disaster. But he got it. Was it his best performance? Probably not. Was it iconic? Absolutely. It was Pacino at his most "Pacino"—big, loud, and theatrical. It was the version of him that the public had come to love, even if it lacked the surgical precision of his Michael Corleone days.
The Long Gap and the Scorsese Reunion
After the 1993 win, Pacino entered a bit of an Oscar drought. He kept working, of course. We got Heat, Donnie Brasco, and The Insider. But the Academy stayed quiet.
It took twenty-seven years for him to get back into the race. In 2020, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. It was a return to form. He was competing against his co-star Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, and Anthony Hopkins. He didn't win—Brad Pitt took it for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood—but seeing him back in the mix felt right. It proved that even in his 80s, the guy hasn't lost his fastball.
Every Al Pacino Oscar Nomination at a Glance
If you're trying to track the math, here is how the nominations actually shook out over the years.
- 1973: The Godfather (Supporting Actor) - Nomination
- 1974: Serpico (Lead Actor) - Nomination
- 1975: The Godfather Part II (Lead Actor) - Nomination
- 1976: Dog Day Afternoon (Lead Actor) - Nomination
- 1980: ...And Justice for All (Lead Actor) - Nomination
- 1991: Dick Tracy (Supporting Actor) - Nomination
- 1993: Glengarry Glen Ross (Supporting Actor) - Nomination
- 1993: Scent of a Woman (Lead Actor) - WIN
- 2020: The Irishman (Supporting Actor) - Nomination
It's a wild list. He has more nominations than Denzel Washington (9) and the same as Meryl Streep had back in the late 80s. But the "win rate" is the thing that trips people up. One for nine.
Why the Academy Missed So Often
So, why did it take so long? Some people think it's because he was "too intense" for the old guard of the Academy in the 70s. Others think he suffered from vote-splitting. In 1973, three actors from The Godfather were nominated for Supporting Actor (Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall). They basically ate each other’s votes, allowing Joel Grey to slip through.
There’s also the "Method" factor. Pacino, along with guys like De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, brought a gritty, New York theater energy to Hollywood that was a bit of a shock to the system.
Ultimately, the Al Pacino Academy Awards story is a reminder that the Oscars are often more about narrative than "best" acting. They reward the career, the comeback, or the "it's time" factor. If you want to dive deeper into his legacy, the best thing to do is ignore the trophy count.
Watch the quiet intensity of The Godfather Part II back-to-back with the explosive energy of Dog Day Afternoon. You’ll see an actor who didn't need a gold statue to prove he was changing the game. If you're looking for a specific starting point for your own Pacino marathon, start with the films that didn't win him the Oscar—that’s usually where the real magic is.
Practical Next Steps for Film Fans:
- Track Down the "Lost" Performance: Watch The Godfather Part II specifically to see the performance many call the "greatest loss" in Oscar history.
- Compare the Styles: Watch Serpico (1973) and Scent of a Woman (1992) back-to-back. Notice how his acting style evolved from internalized "quiet" method acting to a more externalized "bigness."
- Check the 1993 Competition: Look up the other nominees from Pacino's winning year—Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin and Denzel Washington in Malcolm X. It makes for a great debate on whether the "makeup Oscar" was justified that year.