How Diane Keaton Saved Broke Al Pacino After Hit Movie Premiere

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Al Pacino recently revealed that he was experiencing money struggles shortly after the premiere of one of his most successful movies – and if it weren’t for his then girlfriend, Diane Keaton, he might have gone broke.

Keaton, 78, and Pacino, 84, met on the set of The Godfather, but their romantic relationship did not bloom until the filming of The Godfather Part II. The couple started dating in 1974, around the same time Keaton found out that the actor was in dire need of help with his finances.

In his memoir, Sonny Boy, Pacino wrote, “When I finished making ‘The Godfather,’ I was broke, not that I had ever had any money, but now I owed money.” The actor explained, “My manager and agents got their cuts of my salary while I had to live on support from Jill Clayburgh.”

The Academy Award winner’s memoir later revealed that he took Keaton along with him to talk to his entertainment lawyer, but the Town & Country actress did a lot more than that.

According to the memoir, Keaton yelled at the lawyer saying, “Do you know who he is? Yeah, you’re going to tell me, ‘Oh, he’s an artist.’ No. He. Is. An idiot,” before he could get an answer out. Pacino also wrote that she also told the lawyer, “He’s an ignoramus,” and that “When it comes to this, you’ve got to take care of him.” The actor also noted that Keaton was right about everything and actually encouraged him to get back to work after only working on five movies throughout the 80s.

“I could say I got taken advantage of. I could blame my accountants. I could blame [my manager] Mary Bregman, who had put me into some sort of tax shelter that went south. I could blame myself, but then I’d have to take responsibility for my own actions,” he wrote in the memoir.

Pacino delved into various other experiences and personal struggles with his finances throughout his life in the book, and even admitted that some of his later projects were done purely for the money and doesn’t even think they are “very good.”

The Scarface star also mentioned that his role as Tony Montana in the 80s crime drama was the role that brought in the most dough, writing, “To this day it’s still the biggest film I ever did. The residuals still support me, I can live on it, I mean, I could, if I lived like a normal person.”