Here was an actress that was both beautiful, intelligent and edgy. At least in her roles she was. I didn’t realize, that she was married to David E Kelley, who would one day make it huge as a writer for the Ally McBeal show, and a few others such as Boston Public and Chicago Hope. At the time, I knew Michelle mostly for her role as Al Pachino’s coked out trophy wife in the classic movie Scarface. That movie was a career maker for both of them I might add.

But, she was so brilliant in that role, at the time it was hard to consider her in anything else. Although Michelle has had a very eclectic career starring as a smoky lounge singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys and stretching even further to fit into catwomans skin tight leather suit in one of the Batman movies. That was a real Jekyll and Hyde role for here, where she played basically two very different characters in one movie.

She also seemed to be one of the few actresses of her time, who managed to make it big, get critical acclaim, and be taken seriously without self destructing. She didn’t seem to get caught up in any serious alcohol and drug addictions. Rarely if ever made it to the cover of those trashy Hollywood tabloids. Plus, managed to stay married to the same guy for decades. Wow, how often does that ever happen anymore. Far too many actors seem to need to get caught naked doing something incredibly stupid before their career takes off.

Nope, not for Michelle. She seems to be one of those actresses who managed to get by on her talents and hard work. Being beautiful and smart helps a lot in the business of Hollywood. I think the one thing that separated her from the rest of the crash and burn celebrities that we see today, is that she understood the difference between being an actress, and being a celebrity.

There are several movies that truly stand out in his career, and make him memorable for many people. The first would obviously be his career maker The GodFather Part 1, and the second one being Scarface. I must confess that to this day, I’ve never watched any of the Godfather movies in their entirety, but it is on my list of things to do before I die. Scarface however is one of his movies that I have seen several times. Not just because of Pacino I must confess, but also his costar Michelle Pfeifer. Two of my favorite actors in one movie is pretty hard for me to miss.

He’s also done a few smaller and less memorable movies that really worked for me. One was Carlito’s Way, and the other was The Devils Advocate. He plays opposite sides of the law (kind of) in both movies, but he still really shines. While Carlitos Way is a bit more his typical stick, The Devils Advocate isn’t. He starts off as what appears to be a good guy lawyer (if there is such a thing), and turns out to be the devil incarnate. Like that was a big character stretch for the audience.

I was a bit surprised to learn some of the roles he turned down. Probably the biggest, has to be the role of Hans Solo in the Star Wars franchise. I have to believe that was one of the best decisions in movie history. For the life of me, I just can’t imagine anyone buy Harrison Ford playing the role of Hans Solo. As great as Pacino is, my brain nearly blows up imagining him as a renegade space pilot rescuing princesses and being chased by evil galactic forces. Sometimes fate has a way of doing the right thing.