Wins Oscar

Pacino wins Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Scent of a Woman (1992). Presented by Jodie Foster at the 65th Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, Pacino:

I want to thank Tom Pollock and Casey Silver at Universal Pictures, and my agent Rick Nicita who urged me to do this part and actually threatened me if I didn’t do it, ’cause I didn’t want to do the part for some reason . . . . Now, recently a young girl came up to me. I was at a function for the South Bronx, which is where I’m from. And she said that I had encouraged her, and that’s not necessarily by my work but just by the fact that we came from the same place. And I just can’t forget that girl, and I can’t forget the kids out there who may be thinking tonight that if he can do it, I can do it. So this is really a proud and hopeful moment for me, because I want to thank the Academy for giving us a gift of encouragement. And this is a gift, a great gift to me. I thank you all, really. Thank you.