Al Pacino is still "haunted" by a childhood injury to his penis.
The 84-year-old actor was around 10 years old when he went through "one of the most embarrassing experiences" of his life and still feels "squeamish" to tell the tale now.
He wrote in his memoir 'Sonny Boy' in an extract obtained by People magazine: “I seemed to cheat death on a regular basis.
“I was like a cat with many more than nine lives. I had more mishaps and accidents than I can count.”
Recalling the uncomfortable incident, he wrote: “I was walking on a thin, iron fence, doing my tightrope dance. It had been raining all morning, and sure enough, I slipped and fell, and the iron bar hit me directly between my legs.
"I was in such pain that I could hardly walk home. An older guy saw me groaning in the street, picked me up, and carried me [to an aunt’s apartment]."
Once he got to his aunt's home, Al and his family waited for the doctor to arrive.
He wrote: “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.
“I thought, God, please take me now, as I heard them whispering things to one another as they conducted their inspection.
"[My penis] remained attached, along with the trauma. To this day I’m haunted by the thought of it.”
The 'Scarface' actor recently explained he felt he was "due" to write a memoir.
He told People magazine: “It was due. I’m in my 85th year. When you get there and you start experiencing age, you understand why they do put things down.
“At least according to me, I’ve had quite a big life.”
