Hollywood veteran Al Pacino has been selected to receive the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Life Achievement Award, the organisation’s highest honour.

The 86-year-old actor, best known for his performances in The Godfather trilogy, Dog Day Afternoon and Scent of a Woman, will become the 62nd recipient of the award.

Pacino said on Thursday (15 october) that working with scripts and fellow actors had brought him some of the greatest joys of his life.

“It’s an honour to be recognised by SAG-AFTRA in celebrating the journey,” he said in a statement.

He will receive the award on 28 February at the 33rd annual Actor Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The event will be streamed live on Netflix.

The award also recognises humanitarian contributions. SAG-AFTRA praised Pacino for supporting disaster relief, anti-poverty initiatives, hunger relief and local theatre organisations, including the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.

Born in New York, Pacino was primarily known for his stage performances before director Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Michael Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather. The decision came despite studio opposition, as executives wanted an established star for the role.

His performance earned him an Academy Award nomination and helped establish him as one of Hollywood’s leading actors.

Pacino received Oscar nominations in each of the following three years for Serpico, The Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon. He won the best actor Oscar in 1993 for Scent of a Woman, the same year he received a supporting actor nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross.

He has received nine Academy Award nominations in total, with his most recent coming in 2020 for The Irishman.

His other honours include two competitive SAG-AFTRA Actor Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and the Cecil B DeMille Award, the Golden Globes’ lifetime achievement honour.

SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin praised Pacino as both a dedicated student of his craft and a master performer, highlighting the courage, intensity and emotional depth that have defined his work.

Established in 1962, the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award has previously honoured prominent performers, including Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman, James Earl Jones, Jane Fonda and Harrison Ford.