Al Pacino visits Jewish Family Service Executive Luncheon

Who woulda thought that they could ever have lunch with the Godfather’s Michael Corleone or Scarface’s Tony Montana? More than 1,100 people got to find out at the Jewish Family Service’s “Up Close and Personal” event with Al Pacino on Wednesday.

Pacino demonstrated how he has the range and the talent to play these and so many other eccentric characters as he chatted with the audience, often flitting between his chair and standing at the stage edge. He reminisced about the start of his acting career and the colorful personalities he has come to know over the years, including Francis Ford Coppola and more recently Jessica Chastain. Pacino has had a career spanning more than fifty years, during which time he has received numerous accolades and honors both competitive and honorary, among them an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts. He is also one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the “Triple Crown of Acting”.

It was a great way to carry on the tradition of the JFS Executive Luncheon, which has been host to many dignitaries and celebrities. The crowd this year was the biggest ever, raising money for mental health counseling, senior and adult in-home care, disability and employment services and family safety net services. The ripple effect of those helped by Jewish Family Service reaches far and wide, with those who received aid during the toughest part of their lives often coming full circle to give back to JFS.

For more information, log on to www.jewishfamilyservice.org.