Why has a legendary actor like Al Pacino been awarded with only one Oscar?

Since I agree Al Pacino is a legendary actor and it’s a fact the he has ‘only’ won 1 Oscar. The only question is, why?

Besides his win for ‘Scent of a Woman,’ he has been nominated 7 others times - that alone puts him in ratified air among the most nominated of all time (hence Legendary).

I won’t go through why he didn’t win each time, but let’s take a look at the more notable ones:

1973: The Godfather (Best Supporting Actor)

Michael Corleone is one of greatest film characters of all time and Pacino, it could be argued, gave his greatest performance. So, why didn’t he win?

The Oscars are a Hollywood invention and the Hollywood film community is a VERY small town. Pacino was upset he didn’t receive a Best Actor nomination (Marlon Brando did and for the same movie). He publicly denounced the process and the Oscars. He was seen as a “New York” actor who sneered at Hollywood. Of course it shouldn’t have made a difference but it did.

In 1973, the majority of Oscar voters were from the 1930–1950s Studio System Era and they didn’t like people who didn’t like Hollywood. That year’s winner, Joel Grey, had a 20 year background in the industry and he was reprising his Tony winning performance as the Emcee in Cabaret. At the time, Cabaret was a big hit and the PR machine got behind Grey. 45 plus years later, Cabaret feels dated and the Godfather is still regarding as one one best of all time. Re-vote now, Pacino wins.

1974: Serpico (Best Actor) 1974, Pacino stars in Serpico, a gritty, filmed on Streets of New York, biopic/crime cops/ corruption drama. Pacino is terrific as Frank Serpico and his transformation from 60s rookie cop to 70s undercover narcotics officers parallels the changes in Society during that time. The film itself is a little long and some of the characters fairly one dimension. Still a very strong Pacino performance and a worthy Best Actor nod. The winner was Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger.

I am a huge fan of Jack Lemmon in both comedy and drama - but this wasn’t one of his best and the picture and theme (middle aged man lost in the changing times) was slow, depressing and virtually unseen - it wasn’t a big movie. But go back and look at 1973. Lemmon was a Studio System HOFer and Pacino was still seen a punk New York actor by the Academy. In a year with a lot of good performances in some less the perfect movies - The popular Lemmon took home the prize. Revote: Pacino wins Oscars #2

1975 The Godfather Part 2 (Best Actor) 3 of 4 in a row nomination for Pacino. The Godfather Part 2 - is usually mentioned as the greatest sequel of all time and is the only time where both the original and the sequel both won Best Picture Oscars. Part 2 is two very different stories, The story of young Vito (played by the youthful Robert De Niro Best Supporting Actor Winner) and Michael’s (Pacino) story of trying to modernize the Mafia while still ruling with an iron fist resulting in his third nomination. I think for me, it was the second best performance that year, the best being Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. Nicholson’s performance elevated Film Noir from it’s 40/50s inceptions to something new, different and Oscar worthy. Huge star turns by Faye Dunaway and director John Houston made this a very special experience and again, one that holds up quite well. But Jack didn’t win and of course we know Al didn’t win. The Winner was Art Carney in Harry and Tonto. Carney became a household name in the 50s playing Jackie Gleason’s sidekick on the Honeymooners. Carney, a serious actor, seems to resent the offish, comical and somewhat dimwitted character he played, Ed Norton. After the Honeymooners his career wasn’t as successful and was never really thought as lead movie actor. Along comes Harry and Tonto, a sentimental tearjecker, the story of a man and his cat as they see the world via greyhound. Especially back then, never underestimate the sentimental favorite in an Oscar race. Yes, lead actors in two of the greatest films of all time, lost to a guy and his cat. Revoted today, Jack Nicholson in a nod over Pacino.

Let’s skip to the year Pacino won, 1993, A Scent of a Woman. Why this year finally, why this one. Three reasons:

1. It was a solid, if not somewhat schmaltzy and over the top performance.
2. The competition was not as strong as most of the other years he was nominated
3. Perhaps most importantly after 7 other nominations without a win and a 20 year history in Hollywood - he WAS the sentimental favorite. Yes, it finally came around.