Alan was the son of a Polish immigrant who ran a printing business. Alan graduated from Yale and was expected to take over the business, but he convinced his Dad into underwriting a movie. This set him off on his producer's path and later became a director.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 728-732. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Directed 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Richard Farnsworth, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen and Meryl Streep.Fonda, Robards and Streep won Oscars for their performances in one of Pakula's movies.
He was killed when another car struck a metal pipe lying in the road and it flew into the windshield of his car.
His production business partner in the 1950s and 1960s was 'Robert Mulligan'.
President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978