It is one of those Hollywood facts that feels like a glitch in the Matrix. If you ask a casual movie fan how many times Al Pacino has stood on that stage clutching a gold statue, they’ll probably guess three or four. I mean, he’s Michael Corleone. He’s Tony Montana. He’s the guy from Serpico. But the reality is much weirder. Al Pacino Oscar wins aren't a plural list. It’s a single event. One win. That’s it.
Honestly, it’s kinda wild when you look at the math. The man has been nominated nine times. He basically owned the 1970s, putting up a run of performances that most actors wouldn't achieve in three lifetimes. Yet, for decades, the Academy kept him in the "always a bridesmaid" category.
The One and Only: Scent of a Woman (1992)
The year was 1993. Pacino had finally reached the point where the industry felt guilty. Have you ever noticed how the Oscars sometimes give "makeup" awards? It’s when they realize they’ve ignored a legend for so long that they just pick the next decent performance to settle the debt.
In Scent of a Woman, Pacino played Frank Slade, a blind, whiskey-swilling retired Lieutenant Colonel. It was big. It was loud. It gave us "Hoo-ah!"
He beat out some serious heavyweights that year:
- Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven
- Denzel Washington for Malcolm X
- Robert Downey Jr. for Chaplin
- Stephen Rea for The Crying Game
Some critics today argue Denzel should’ve taken it for Malcolm X. Others think Pacino was leaning a bit too hard into the "shouting" phase of his career. But at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion that night, nobody cared about the nuances. When Jodie Foster opened that envelope, the standing ovation lasted forever. Pacino’s first words at the mic? "You broke my streak." He knew. We all knew. It had been 21 years since his first nomination.
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The Great 70s Snub Era
If we’re being real, the most famous Al Pacino Oscar wins should have happened twenty years before they actually did. Between 1972 and 1975, Pacino was nominated four years in a row. It’s a feat almost nobody pulls off.
The Godfather (1972)
Pacino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was actually furious about this. Even though he was the lead of the movie—the story is literally Michael’s transition—the studio pushed Marlon Brando for Lead and Pacino for Supporting. He famously boycotted the ceremony because he felt the category was an insult. He lost to Joel Grey in Cabaret.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
This is the one that still hurts for cinema nerds. Most critics consider his performance in Part II to be the greatest acting job in American history. He’s cold, he’s calculating, and he’s terrifying.
Who did he lose to? Art Carney in Harry and Tonto.
Look, Art Carney was great, but he played a guy traveling with a cat. Pacino played the disintegration of a man's soul. It remains one of the biggest "What were they thinking?" moments in Academy history.
Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon
In '73, he was the whistleblowing cop Frank Serpico. Lost to Jack Lemmon. In '75, he was Sonny in Dog Day Afternoon, screaming "Attica! Attica!" in the street. Lost to Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. You can't really stay mad at the Nicholson win—that’s a titan vs. titan battle—but the cumulative effect was that Pacino was becoming the guy who couldn't seal the deal.
The Double Nomination Anomaly
Fast forward to the year he actually won. 1992 was a bizarre peak for him. He wasn't just nominated for Best Actor for Scent of a Woman; he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Glengarry Glen Ross.
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He played Ricky Roma, a shark-like real estate salesman. If you haven't seen it, his monologue about "the job" is a masterclass in verbal violence. He lost the supporting trophy to Gene Hackman (Unforgiven), but honestly, he probably didn't mind. He walked away with the big one that night.
It’s a rare club. Very few actors have been nominated for two different roles in the same year. It showed that even after a weird slump in the 80s (let’s not talk about Revolution), he was still the heavyweight champion of the craft.
The Irishman: The Late-Career Return
For a long time, it felt like Pacino was done with the Oscars. He spent the 2000s and 2010s doing a mix of HBO movies—where he actually won two Emmys—and some questionable theatrical choices. Then came Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman in 2019.
Playing Jimmy Hoffa gave him his ninth nomination. He was 79 years old. Watching him play off Robert De Niro again, but with the added weight of their real-life aging, was special. He didn't win—Brad Pitt took it for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood—but it served as a reminder. Pacino doesn't just act; he occupies the screen.
Every Nomination He Ever Got
- 1973: The Godfather (Supporting)
- 1974: Serpico (Lead)
- 1975: The Godfather Part II (Lead)
- 1976: Dog Day Afternoon (Lead)
- 1980: ...And Justice for All (Lead)
- 1991: Dick Tracy (Supporting)
- 1993: Glengarry Glen Ross (Supporting)
- 1993: Scent of a Woman (Lead) - THE WIN
- 2020: The Irishman (Supporting)
Why It Matters in 2026
We're sitting here in 2026, and the landscape of acting has changed. We have AI de-aging (which Pacino used in The Irishman) and digital performances. But the reason we still obsess over Al Pacino Oscar wins is because he represents the "Method" era—raw, unpredictable, and human.
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Whether he’s playing a businessman in the upcoming Maserati: The Brothers (the man is 85 and still booking leads!) or just showing up at the Oscars to awkwardly read the Best Picture winner, he is the connective tissue to old Hollywood.
The fact that he only has one Oscar doesn't diminish his career; it honestly just makes the Oscars look a bit silly.
What You Can Do Next
If you want to actually understand why the world was so obsessed with him, stop watching the clips of him yelling. Everyone knows "Great ass!" from Heat. Instead, go back and watch the first Godfather. Watch his eyes in the Italian restaurant scene before he kills Sollozzo. That’s the "Oscar win" that never was.
You should also check out The Panic in Needle Park. It’s his first big role. No nominations for that one, but it’s where the magic started.
Check out the Criterion Collection versions of his 70s work for the best transfers. Watching those films in 4K really highlights the subtle facial acting that the Academy missed while they were busy voting for movies about cats.
Explore the "Triple Crown of Acting" list. Pacino is one of the few who has the Oscar, the Emmy, and the Tony. When you look at it that way, one gold statue is plenty. He’s already won everything else.