Divorce is often a messy thing, with people taking sides and lawyers getting involved. But this was certainly not the experience of actress Beverly D’Angelo and her ex, Lorenzo Salviati. For them, it was easy – even when D’Angelo said she wanted to leave her husband for another man, Al Pacino. In fact, Salviati immediately agreed to the separation for a reason you might not suspect.
Marriage to Lorenzo Salviati
Beverly D’Angelo, star of the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, first met Lorenzo Salviati at a party they both attended in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. It wasn’t long after that the actress and the Italian duke decided to elope, holding the ceremony on Labor Day weekend 1981 aboard a yacht that they rented out with friends. After returning from the adventure, they lived together on his estate near Pisa before moving to a large house in Los Angeles.
It was an unconventional marriage in which they had other relationships, “but if there were any crises or anything, we’d come back together,” she said. This arrangement worked well for them, and D’Angelo thought that it was particularly advantageous for the men that she met because they knew she didn’t want a commitment from them. That is, until she told Al Pacino about it. He responded, “Well, that’s crazy.”
Meeting someone new
As it turned out, her dalliance with Pacino ended up being so much more, and she too started to think that her arrangement with Salviati was a little crazy. Eventually, she decided to talk to Salviati about it and reveal her growing feelings for Pacino. D’Angelo called her husband and told him that she was head over heels. “I really love him and we’re talking about having kids and he thinks it’s crazy that I’m married and now I’m thinking it is too,” she said.
Initially, Salviati was hesitant, pushing back because he felt like they had a “perfect relationship,” and didn’t like that it was an actor that she’d fallen for. Yet his tune changed completely when he found out exactly who it was: “Al Pacino, he’s fantastic. I love him. We divorce!” Soon after, the couple amicably signed their divorce papers. It was only after this that D’Angelo thinks her former mother-in-law realized that she hadn’t actually married just for money.
Starting a relationship
Although D’Angelo was divorced by 1995, she and Pacino didn’t start an official relationship until 1997. They were together for six years and had two children together, twins Anton and Olivia. D’Angelo recalled that they decided to have children after only knowing each other for three months, but it took them a few years and IVF treatment for it to happen. Despite making a family of their own, things eventually ended badly for the couple.
Sadly, their relationship ended with a vicious custody battle, one that they eventually resolved in order to co-parent their children. In the process, however, both sides threw out accusations: D’Angelo was accused of using the kids as hostages, while Pacino was accused of being a “controlling, harassing man.”
Despite leaving Salviati for Pacino, D’Angelo still thinks about their relationship to this day. Upon reflection, she considers him to be her soul mate: “It was a great love match.”
The two still share a strong bond
As the years have passed, D’Angelo and Pacino have been able to put their tumultuous separation in 2004 behind them. Instead, they maintain a healthy and strong relationship. Recently, Pacino was spotted leaving an escape room with D’Angelo, Anton, and Olivia, just weeks after news broke of his girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, being pregnant with his fourth child. A family man, Pacino makes sure to spend time with all of his kids, and we expect nothing less for the newest member of the family whenever they arrive.
Al Pacino is spending time with ex Beverly D’Angelo as he gets ready to welcome a baby with 29-year-old girlfriend Noor Alfallah. https://t.co/bFqYXSwM4s pic.twitter.com/qFxt01ggzm
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 13, 2023
D’Angelo recently posted a video to her Instagram where she explained how the former couple has been able to maintain such a good relationship despite their past.
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“As for me and Al,” she said, “it is a unique and profound friendship between two artists that endures to this day, through thick and thin, 27 years now of doing it our way. And there you have it.”