Oscars Flashback: What Barbra Streisand Told Al Pacino Backstage After He Finally Won forScent of a Woman

Mar. 15, 2025

Barbra Streisand (left) and Al Pacino (right) at the 1993 Oscars.Photo:Barry King/Alamy; Avalon/Getty

Barry King/Alamy; Avalon/Getty

Ahead of Sunday’s 2025 Oscars,PEOPLEis looking back at past ceremonies and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from Hollywood’s most prestigious event.

In his2024 memoirSonny Boy, Pacino, now 84, recalls losing seven times over the course of two decades, and finally tasting victory at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 29, 1993.

“I sat there­ glassy‑eyed and numb as they listed me and my fellow nominees for Best Actor,” wrote Pacino, who was up againstClint Eastwood(Unforgiven),Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) andDenzel Washington(Malcolm X).

Al Pacino at the 1993 Oscars.Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock

Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock

“But just as they announced my name as the winner, I had a feeling that this time they would finally do it. I threw back my head and let out a sigh. This was my first time in eight tries that I’d finally ­won — having already lost for the seventh time earlier that­ night — so when I got up onstage, I started my speech with a line that a friend had suggested to me,” continued Pacino, who was also nominated that night in the Best Supporting Actor category forGlengarry Glen Ross. (He lost toUnforgiven’s Gene Hackman.)

“I said, ‘Well, you broke my streak.’ That got a laugh, but there was truth in it too. It was a truly powerful moment to see that entire audience stand up and applaud me, and the gratitude I felt was real,” wrote Pacino.

After thanking costarChris O’Donnelland director Marty Brest, Pacino felt a bit lost: “I didn’t know where to go.  I just left the stage with my Oscar and there was Barbra Streisand in the wings,” he recalled.

“She gave me a little A‑­ OK hand gesture and said, ‘I voted for you, Al.’ And I said, ‘Thanks, Barbra.’”

Gabrielle Anwar and Al Pacino in ‘Scent of a Woman.'.Snap/Shutterstock

Unfortunately for Pacino, he didn’t get to bask in his peers’ adoration at the Oscar after-parties. He was due in New York City the very next morning to shootCarlito’s Way, so as soon as he left the Academy Awards ceremony, he ducked into a car and went to the airport and flew via private jet to the Big Apple.

source: people.com