After a career spanning 50 years, legendary Godfather actor Al Pacino will be thanking his lucky stars at turning 85 today. The kid from the wrong side of the tracks calls his entire life a "moon shot" – having survived a tough childhood in the Bronx, where three of his closest gang friends ended up "dead by 30 from heroin". 

After he began drinking at nine, he says even surviving the 1940s was a miracle - crediting his mum for his longevity, after she banned him from roaming the streets after dark with hoods. He says: "I loathed her at the time. But I'm still here because of my mother. I never thanked her for… keeping me away from the path that led to delinquency, danger and violence, to the needle that killed Petey, Cliffy and Bruce."