Sonny Boy: A Memoir

In his memoir Pacino shares personal details about his upbringing and the difficulties he’s endured throughout his life. He shows how he was able to overcome serious losses and hardship with the support of his friends and his passion for acting. 

While Pacino’s childhood unfolded in poverty, he didn’t feel that this was a burden at the time thanks to his close friendships with several other neighborhood boys. However, in hindsight, he recognizes that his family and neighborhood were poorer than most, which he believes aggravated his mother’s mental health issues. He also writes about how his childhood friends became involved in crime and substance misuse, leading to their early deaths. When Pacino’s mother and grandfather died early in his adulthood, he was left without an emotional anchor or safety net. Pacino had to provide for himself, and struggled to make ends meet. 

Pacino remembers how his friends tried to help him during these tough years. When he had no place to stay he relied on his friends: “I was moving from one place to another, usually ending up on a friend’s couch or floor” (80). His friend Martin Sheen also gave him an understudy job when he saw how much he was struggling.