Al Pacino's First Screen Role Was On TV (And It Was a Doozy)

When people think of Al Pacino, they tend to focus on his film work. Which makes sense, seeing as the 79-year-old actor is considered one of the greatest movie stars of all time. What people may not realize, however, is that Pacino has delivered an array of television performances as well. In fact, his screen acting career began on TV in the first place.

So, with Pacino set to return to series television this week with Amazon’s Hunters, we thought it would be great time to look back at the legendary actor’s first ever screen appearance: a 1968 guest role on the ABC police procedural N.Y.P.D.

The series — which ran for two seasons and produced a total of 49 episodes — followed three New York police detectives (played by Jack Warden, Robert Hooks, and Frank Converse) as they investigated criminal cases throughout the city, some of which were based on real-life NYPD cases. In the fifth episode of the show’s second season, the three detectives investigated the non-fatal shooting of a man named John James, played by a then 28-year-old Pacino.

While the entire episode isn't currently available online, the clips that are provide an interesting peek at the very beginning of Pacino’s career. While his small N.Y.P.D. role clearly doesn’t offer the same depth as a character like Michael Corleone, some hallmarks of Pacino’s style are present in his performance.

In the episode’s opening scene — in which Pacino is acting opposite his then-girlfriend Jill Clayburgh — he showcases the same kind of manic, wild-eyed energy that he used to his advantage in films like And Justice for All and Dog Day Afternoon. Later, while being interviewed by the show’s detectives, Pacino’s eyes rarely blink, but dart all around the room — bouncing from the faces of the detectives, to the walls, to the floor, and back again. It’s impossible to watch the scene and not notice just how much his eyes are moving, a choice that adds to the initial strangeness of his character.

Those performance decisions help to distract from the show's rather cheesy staging, but while he may have some of the best instincts of any actor in history, clearly there's a limit to what even Pacino could do with a guest role in a late-60s procedural.

Still, three years before his first filmed leading role in The Panic in Needle Park (and four years before his career-defining role The Godfather), N.Y.P.D. gave viewers their first glimpse of Pacino, marking the beginning of one of the most prolific screen careers of the past fifty years. This Friday, viewers will get to see another first for Pacino, as he takes on in his first ever leading role in a TV series.

Hunters premieres on Amazon Prime this Friday, February 21st.

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Alex Welch has written about television and film for TV by the Numbers, IGN, The Berrics, Paste Magazine, Screen Rant and GeekNation. Follow him on Twitter @alexrwelch.