But the Hollywood legend has revealed he clashed with his mum over his desire to be an actor.
The star was brought up by his "emotionally fragile" single mother Rose, who struggled with depression before dying from an overdose when her son was just 22.
They rowed when AI left home after dropping out of many of his school classes and she never lived to see him truly conquer the big screen.
In his new memoir, titled Sonny Boy after his mum's nickname for him, he writes: "This life is a dream, as Shakespeare says.
"I think the saddest part about dying is you lose your memories. Memories are like wings: they keep you flying, like a bird on the wind.
"If I am lucky enough, if I get to heaven perhaps I'll reunite with my mother there. All I want is the chance to walk up to her, look in her eyes and simply say, "Hey ma, see what happened to me?"
The Godfather and Scarface actor also writes about how becoming a dad again at 83 has given him a fresh reason to be hopeful for the future.
The superstar, who collapsed and nearly died from Covid in 2020, became one of Hollywood's oldest dads 16 months ago when ex-girlfriend Noor Alfallah, 30, had Roman.
He writes: "I look at this little baby, my son Roman, who has recently come into my life and I say, 'wow, look at you'.
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