Al Pacino Recalls Traumatic Childhood Penis Injury: 'To This Day I’m Haunted by the Thought of It'

In his new memoir, Al Pacino recalled a traumatic childhood injury to his penis that he admitted he remains "haunted" by.

The 84-year-old Oscar winner detailed the injury, which he described as "one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life," in his memoir Sonny Boy, People reported. The acting legend, who has delivered acclaimed performances in everything from The Godfather to Heat, revealed in the book's opening chapter that he experienced the unfortunate injury when he was around 10.

"I seemed to cheat death on a regular basis," he shared. "I was like a cat with many more than nine lives. I had more mishaps and accidents than I can count." The injury, which still makes him feel "squeamish," happened when he was "walking on a thin, iron fence" as part of a "tightrope dance," as he put it.

"It had been raining all morning, and sure enough, I slipped and fell, and the iron bar hit me directly between my legs," he continued. He wrote that he was "in such pain" that he struggled to walk home. "An older guy saw me groaning in the street, picked me up, and carried me," he added. Pacino was taken to his aunt's apartment and his family called a doctor to make a house visit.

"I lay there on the bed, with my pants completely down around my ankles as the three women in my life—my mother, my aunt, and my grandmother—poked and prodded at my penis in a semipanic," he wrote. "I thought, God, please take me now, as I heard them whispering things to one another as they conducted their inspection. ... To this day I'm haunted by the thought of it." Thankfully, he noted that his penis "remained attached, along with the trauma."

Elsewhere in the memoir, which includes many frank admissions about his career and life, Pacino wrote that he starred in Adam Sandler's infamously awful 2011 comedy film Jack and Jill because he was broke at the time.

"To be honest, I did it because I didn't have anything else," said Pacino, who lost a lot of money thanks to an accountant who got involved with a Ponzi scheme. "Adam Sandler wanted me, and they paid me a lot for it. So I went out and did it, and it helped. I love Adam, he was wonderful to work with and has become a dear friend. He also just happens to be a great actor and a hell of a guy."