Dr. Kevorkian Movie to Star Al Pacino

Only Oregon allows assisted suicide in the case where the quality of life is gone with terminally ill patients and he has just gotten out of prison. He never charged anyone for his services. The movie is being made for HBO. We all remember the 60 minutes show that lead to his conviction. BD

Al Pacino will play the role of Jack Kevorkian, the enigmatic pathologist known as "Dr. Death" and "Jack the Dripper," who assisted in more than 130 suicides with his "mercy machine."

The flamboyant doctor, who served eight years in prison on a second-degree murder charge, was released from a Michigan maximum security prison in 2007 with a parole pledge that he never kill again.

The made-for-television movie, "You Don't Know Jack," directed by Barry Levinson ("Rain Main") with a script by Adam Maser ("Breach"), won't air on HBO until the spring of 2010.

But the project -- five years in the making -- is already inflaming leaders in the assisted death community, which for decades has eyed Kevorkian with suspicion and disdain.

Kevorkian was unwilling to talk to ABCNews.com, but his longtime lawyer said the 81-year-old doctor was "enthused about helping with the film." But it was a 1998 episode of CBS's "60 Minutes," showing Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, 52, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, that led to Kevorkian's conviction on second degree murder charges.