Robert De Niro was born in
New York City
,
New York
, the son of
Virginia Admiral
, a painter, and
Robert De Niro, Sr.
, an
abstract expressionist
painter and sculptor.
De Niro's father
was of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother was of German, French, and Dutch ancestry. His
Italian great-grandparents, Giovanni De Niro and Angelina Mercurio, immigrated from
Ferrazzano
, in the
province of Campobasso
,
Molise,
and his paternal grandmother, Helen
O'Reilly, was the granddaughter of Edward O'Reilly, an immigrant from Ireland.
De Niro's parents, who had met at the painting classes of
Hans Hofmann
in
Provincetown
, Massachusetts, divorced when he was three years
old. De Niro grew up in the
Little Italy area
of Manhattan. He was raised in New York's
Greenwich Village by his mother. Nicknamed "Bobby Milk" for his pallor, the youthful De
Niro joined a Little Italy street gang, but the direction of his future had already been determined
by his stage debut at age ten playing the Cowardly Lion in his school's production of
The
Wizard of Oz
. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, De Niro was also
entranced by the movies, and he quit high school at age 16 to pursue acting. Studying under
Stella Adler
and
Lee Strasberg
, De Niro first attended the
Little Red School House
and
was then enrolled by his mother at the
Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music
and Art
in New York, a division of which (officially named
The School of
Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts
)
was attended by fellow
Godfather II
actor
Al
Pacino
. De Niro attended the
Stella Adler Conservatory
as well as
Lee Strasberg
's
Actor's Studio
,
and used his membership there mostly as a professional advantage.
De Niro's first film role in collaboration with
Brian De Palma
was in 1963 at the age of 20, when he appeared in
The Wedding Party
;
however, the film was not released until 1969. He gained popular attention with his role as a dying
Major League
baseball player in
Bang the Drum
Slowly
(1973). The same year, he began his fruitful collaboration with Scorsese when he
played a memorable role as the smalltime hood "Johnny Boy" alongside
Harvey Keitel
's "Charlie" in
Mean Streets
(1973). In 1974, De Niro played a
pivotal role in
Francis
Coppola
's
The Godfather, Part II
, playing young
Don Vito Corleone
, having previously auditioned for
the roles of
Sonny Corleone
,
Michael Corleone
,
Carlo Rizzi
and Paulie Gatto in
The Godfather
. His performance earned him
his first Academy Award, for
Best
Supporting Actor
, although Coppola accepted the award, as De Niro was not present at the Oscar
ceremony. He became the first actor to win an Academy Award speaking mainly a foreign language, in
this case, multiple
Sicilian
dialects
(although he delivered a few lines in English). De Niro and
Marlon Brando
, who played the older Vito Corleone in the first film, are
the only actors to have won Oscars portraying the same fictional character.
After working with Scorsese in
Mean Streets
, he had a very successful working relationship
with the director in films such as
Taxi
Driver
(1976),
New York, New York
(1977),
Raging Bull
(1980),
The King of Comedy
(1983),
Goodfellas
(1990),
Cape Fear
(1991), and
Casino
(1995). They also acted together in
Guilty by Suspicion
and
provided their voices for the
animated feature
Shark Tale
.
Taxi Driver
is particularly important to De Niro's career; his iconic performance as
Travis Bickle
shot him to stardom and forever
linked De Niro's name with Bickle's famous "
You talkin' to me-
" monologue, which De Niro largely
improvised.
In 1976, De Niro appeared (along with
G-rard Depardieu
and
Donald Sutherland
) in
Bernardo Bertolucci
's epic biographical exploration of life in
Italy before World War I,
Novecento
(
1900
), seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends at the
opposite sides of society's hierarchy.
In 1978, De Niro played "Michael Vronsky" in the acclaimed Vietnam War film
The Deer Hunter
, for which he was
nominated
Best Actor in a Leading Role
.
De Niro filming the boxing scenes as
Jake
LaMotta
in
1980
's
Raging Bull
; Director
Martin Scorsese
can be seen center left while director of photography,
Michael Chapman can be seen to the centre right.
De Niro in 1988
Praised for his commitment to roles (stemming from his background in
method acting
), De Niro gained 60 pounds (27-kg) for the later part of
the movie and learned how to
box
for his portrayal of
Jake LaMotta
in
Raging Bull
; ground his teeth for
Cape Fear
; lived in
Sicily
for
The Godfather, Part II
; worked as a cab
driver for three months for
Taxi Driver
;
and learned to play the
saxophone
for
New York, New York
.
He also put on weight and shaved his hairline to play
Al
Capone
in
The
Untouchables
.
De Niro's brand of method acting includes employing whatever extreme tactic he feels is necessary
to elicit the best performance from those he is acting with. During the filming of
The King of
Comedy
, for example, he directed a slew of anti-Semitic epithets at co-star
Jerry Lewis
in order to enhance and authenticate the
anger demonstrated by his onscreen character. According to
magazine
, the technique was successful.
Lewis recalled, "I forgot the cameras were there... I was going for Bobby's
throat."
Fearing he had become typecast in mob roles, De Niro began expanding into occasional comedic roles in
the mid-1980s and has had much success there as well, with such films as
Brazil
(1985); the hit
action-comedy
Midnight Run
(1988),
Showtime
(2002), opposite
Eddie Murphy
; the film-and-sequel pairs
Analyze This
(1999) and
Analyze That
(2002), both opposite
actor/comedian
Billy Crystal
,
Meet the Parents
(2000) and
Meet the Fockers
(2004), both opposite
Ben Stiller
.
Other films include
Falling
in Love
(1984),
The Mission
(1986),
Angel Heart
(1987),
The Untouchables
(1987),
Goodfellas
(1990),
Awakenings
(1990),
Heat
(1995),
The Fan
(1996),
Sleepers
(1996),
Wag the Dog
(1997),
Jackie Brown
and
Ronin
(1998). In 1997, he re-teamed with
Harvey Keitel
and
Ray
Liotta
along with
Sylvester
Stallone
in the crime drama
Cop Land
. De
Niro played a supporting role, taking a back seat to Stallone, Keitel, and Liotta.
In 1993 he also starred in
This Boy's Life
, featuring then-rising child actors
Leonardo DiCaprio
and
Tobey Maguire
. Around this time, he was offered
the role of Mitch Leary in
In the
Line of Fire
opposite
Clint
Eastwood
, but he turned the role down in favor of
John Malkovich
(who received an
Academy Award
nomination for the role) due to scheduling conflicts with
A Bronx Tale
. De Niro would later
reference
In the Line of Fire
(along with
Dirty Harry
and
Magnum Force
, two more of Eastwood's films) in
Righteous Kill
.
In 1995, De Niro starred in
Michael Mann
's police
action-thriller
Heat
, along with
fellow actor and long-time friend,
Al Pacino
. The duo
drew much attention from fans, as both have generally been compared throughout their careers. Though
both Pacino and De Niro starred in
The Godfather, Part II
, they shared no
screen time. De Niro and Pacino once again appeared in a film together, in the crime thriller
Righteous Kill
.
In 2004, De Niro provided the voice of Don Lino, the antagonist in the animated film
Shark Tale
, opposite
Will Smith
. He also reprised his role as Jack Byrnes in
Meet the Fockers
, and was featured in
Stardust
. All films were
successful at the
box office
but received mixed
reviews. When promoting
Shark Tale
, De Niro said that was his first experience with
voice acting
, which he commented was an enjoyable
time.
De Niro with
Matt Damon
in Berlin in
February 2007 for the premiere of
The Good Shepherd
De Niro had to turn down a role in
The
Departed
(
Martin Sheen
taking the role
instead) due to commitments with preparing
The Good Shepherd
. He said "I wanted to. I wish I
could've been able to, but I was preparing
The Good Shepherd
so much that I couldn't
take the time to. I was trying to figure a way to do it while I was preparing. It just didn't
seem possible."
He directed
The Good
Shepherd
(2006), and costarred with
Matt
Damon
and
Angelina Jolie
. The movie
also reunited him onscreen with
Joe Pesci
, with whom
De Niro had starred in
Raging Bull
,
Goodfellas
,
A Bronx
Tale
,
Once Upon A Time In America
and
Casino
.
In June 2006, it was announced that De Niro had donated his film archive - including scripts,
costumes, and props - to the
Harry Ransom Center
at
The University of Texas at Austin
. On April 27, 2009, it was announced that
the De Niro collection at the Ransom Center was open to researchers and the public. De Niro has said
that he is working with
Martin Scorsese
on a new project. "I'm trying to actually work... [screenwriter] Eric Roth and myself and
Marty are working on a script now, trying to get it done."
De Niro has won two
Academy
Awards
:
Best
Actor
for his role in
Raging Bull
, and
Best Supporting Actor
for
The Godfather,
Part II
.
De Niro and
Marlon Brando
are the only actors
who won Academy Awards for portraying the same character: Brando won for playing the elderly
Don Vito Corleone
(though he declined the award) in
The
Godfather
, while De Niro later won the award for playing the young Vito in
The Godfather,
Part II
. Brando and De Niro came together onscreen for the only time in
The Score
(2001). De Niro actually
auditioned for the role of
Sonny
in the
first
Godfather
film,
but the role was given to
James Caan
. When
The Godfather, Part II
was in preproduction, the director,
Francis Ford Coppola
, remembered
De Niro's audition and cast him to play the young Vito Corleone. De Niro is one of only five
people to win an Academy Award for working in a foreign language, as he almost exclusively spoke
Italian, with very few phrases in English.
De Niro is acting in the role of a mobster in
Paramount Pictures
' upcoming movie,
Frankie Machine
. He
announced that he would appear in
Martin
Campbell
's
film version
of the classic
BBC
crime series
Edge of
Darkness
in 2010 alongside
Mel Gibson
, but,
just after he arrived to begin shooting, De Niro walked from the set due to creative differences.
He
was then replaced by
Ray Winstone
.
In 1993, De Niro made his directorial debut with
A Bronx Tale
. The film, written by
Chazz Palminteri
, was about Palminteri's turbulent childhood in the
Bronx. De Niro agreed to direct the film after seeing Palminteri's one-man off-Broadway play. De
Niro also played Lorenzo, the bus driver who struggles to keep his son away from local mobster Sonny,
played by Palminteri.
De Niro hadn't directed another film until 2006's
The Good Shepherd
, which starred
Matt Damon
and
Angelina
Jolie
, and depicts the origins of the
CIA
, with Damon portraying one of the top counter-intelligence agents during
World War II and the Cold War. De Niro has a small role as General Bill Donovan, who recruits
Damon's character into the world of counter-intelligence.
CBS
has made a deal with Tribeca Productions to develop three
pilots that will be executive produced by Tribeca partners Robert De Niro and
Jane Rosenthal
. The deal gives Tribeca a
guarantee that one of the three projects will be produced as a series pilot. The first project, to be
produced in partnership by
Media
Rights Capital
, is an hourlong pilot that will be written by
William Monahan
, the Oscar-winning writer of
The Departed
who will make his first foray
into TV with an untitled drama set in New York.
Monahan, who recently scripted
Body of Lies
and
Edge of Darkness
, is writing the pilot targeted for the
CBS's Fall 2009 schedule. Rosenthal wouldn't reveal the subject matter.
Tribeca continues to develop
Little
Fockers
and
The Undomestic Goddess
for
Universal
Pictures
, and
Frankie Machine
at Paramount, with
Michael Mann
attached to
direct and De Niro to star.
De Niro is currently attached for the
lead role in The Dark Fields, a suspense thriller directed by Neil Burger.
De Niro has reportedly signed with
ESPN Films
to
play football coach
Vince Lombardi
in a
feature film portraying Lombardi's coaching career. Plans call for the film to debut in January
2012, on the weekend before the
2012 Super
Bowl
.
De Niro at
Tribeca Film
Festival
"
Whatever Works
"
Premiere, 2009
De Niro, who lives in New York City, has been investing in the
TriBeCa
neighborhood in
lower Manhattan
since 1989. His capital ventures have included cofounding
the film studio
TriBeCa
Productions
; the popular
Tribeca Film Festival
;
Nobu Hospitality
;
Nobu
and
Tribeca
Grill
, which he co-owns with
Paul Wallace
and Broadway producer
Stewart F.
Lane
;
The Greenwich Hotel,
located in TriBeCa; and the restaurant inside the hotel, Locanda Verde, formally known as Ago, which
is run by executive chef and co-owner,
Andrew Carmellini
.
In 1997, De Niro married his second wife,
Grace Hightower
(a former flight attendant), at their estate near
Marbletown
in
upstate New York
(De Niro also has
residences on the east and west sides of
Manhattan
).
Their son Elliot was born in 1998.
In addition to Elliot, De Niro has a son, Raphael, a former actor who now works in New York real
estate
with first wife
Diahnne Abbott
. He also adopted Abbott's
daughter (from a previous relationship),
Drena
. In addition, he has twin sons, Julian Henry and Aaron Kendrick
(conceived by
in vitro fertilization
and delivered by a surrogate mother in 1995), from a
long-term live-in relationship with former model
Toukie Smith
.
In February 1998, during a film shoot in France, he was taken in for questioning by French police for
nine hours and was then questioned by a magistrate over a prostitution ring. De Niro denied any
involvement, saying that he had never paid for sex, "...and even if I had, it wouldn't have
been a crime."
The magistrate wanted to speak to him
after his name was mentioned by one of the call girls. In an interview with the French newspaper
Le Monde
, he said, "I will never return to
France. I will advise my friends against going to France," and he would "send your
Legion of Honor
back to
the ambassador, as soon as possible." French judicial sources say the actor is regarded as a
potential witness, not a suspect.
De Niro was due to be granted with Italian citizenship at the
Venice Film Festival
in September 2004. However, the
Sons of Italy
lodged a
protest with Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
, claiming De Niro had damaged the image of Italians
and
Italian-Americans
by frequently portraying them in criminal roles. Culture
Minister Giuliano Urbani dismissed the objections, and the ceremony was rescheduled to go forward in
Rome in October. Controversy flared again when De Niro failed to show for two media appearances in
Italy that month, which De Niro blamed on "serious communication problems" that weren't
"handled properly" on his end, stating, "The last thing I would want to do is offend
anyone. I love Italy." The citizenship was conferred on De Niro on October 21, 2006, during the
finale of the Rome Film Festival. De Niro is registered in the electoral district of
Molise
, the Italian homeland of his great-grandparents.
De Niro is a supporter of the
Democratic Party
, and vocally supported
Al Gore
in the
2000 presidential election
. De Niro publicly supported
John Kerry
in the
2004 presidential election
. In 1998, he lobbied Congress against impeaching
President
Bill Clinton
.
De Niro also
narrated
9/11
, a documentary about the
September 11, 2001 attacks
, shown
on
CBS
and centering on video footage made by
Jules and Gedeon Naudet
that
focused on the role of
firefighters
following the attacks. While promoting his movie
The Good Shepherd
with
co-star
Matt Damon
on the December 8, 2006 episode
of
Hardball with
Chris Matthews
at
George Mason University
, De Niro was asked whom he would like to
see as President of the United States. De Niro responded, "Well, I think of two people:
Hillary Clinton
and
Obama
." On February 4, 2008, De Niro
supported Obama at a rally at the
Izod Center
in
New Jersey
before
Super Tuesday
.
