De Niro, Robert Anthony, Jr.,
1943-, American film actor and director, b. New York, N.Y.
Both of De Niro’s parents were painters; De Niro was raised by his
mother in Greenwich Village. After completing high school, he studied acting
with Lee Strasberg and
Stella Adler. He had his
first major role in the film Greetings (1968), his first
collaboration with director Brian De Palma. He followed with other roles
before partnering for the first time with director Martin Scorsese with the film Mean
Streets (1973), a breakthrough role for him. He won his first
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor portraying the young Vito Corleone in
The Godfather Part II (1974), and then appeared in
Scorcese’s Taxi Driver (1976), winning praise for
his portrayal of the loner/anti-hero Travis Bickle. Other notable films of
this period include The Deer Hunter (1978), Raging
Bull (1980; Oscar, Best Actor), and Once Upon a Time in
America (1984). In 1990, he portrayed yet another mob boss in
Scorsese’s Goodfellas, and a catatonic patient who
returns to life in the film Awakenings, followed by his
portrayal of the disturbed exconvict in Cape Fear (1991).
DeNiro turned to directing with the film A Bronx Tale
(1993), based on the stage play of the same name. 1995 saw him appearing in
Scorsese’s Casino and the crime thriller
Heat, opposite Al Pacino. Over the following decades,
DeNiro has continued to make films alternating his dramatic roles with
comedic turns. The successful comedies Analyze This (1999)
and its followup, along with his portrayal of the CIA agent and perspective
father-in-law for Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents (2000)
and its sequels, showed DeNiro’s ability to send up his tough-guy
image. DeNiro was a prime mover in the creation of New York’s Tribeca
Film Festival in 1989 and has also operated several restaurants and a hotel
in the neighborhood. He has won numerous awards and honors, including an AFI
Life Achievement Award (2003), a Kennedy Center Honor (2009), a Golden Globe
Cecil B. DeMille Award (2011), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016), and
the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award (2020).
See biography by S. Levy (2014); A. Ganz and S. Price, Robert De Niro at
Work: From Screenplay to Screen Performance (2020).
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