Robert Anthony De Niro
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Awards
Robert De Niro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II 1974 and the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull 1980. He first gained attention in Mean Streets 1973 with director Martin Scorsese. With over 10 films in the IMDB top 250, he holds the record for most films on that list of any actor.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Robert De Niro — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Robert De Niro by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Robert De Niro — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in New York City to painters Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. His father left the family when Robert was two years old, and he was raised by his mother. At age 10, he played the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz, which sparked his love for acting. He dropped out of high school to study at Stella Adler’s acting school and later at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
De Niro’s breakthrough came in 1973 with Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, the latter his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese. He won his first Oscar for The Godfather Part II 1974, where he learned Sicilian dialect for his role as Vito Corleone. He earned a second Oscar for Raging Bull 1980, gaining over 60 pounds to portray boxer Jake LaMotta. Additional Oscar nominations came for Taxi Driver 1976, The Deer Hunter 1978, and Cape Fear 1991. He also directed A Bronx Tale 1993 and The Good Shepherd 2006.
De Niro married Diahnne Abbott in 1976 and adopted her daughter Drena; they had son Raphael before divorcing in 1988. He married Grace Hightower in 1997; they had son Elliot born in 1998 and a daughter via surrogate in 2011. He also has twin sons Julian and Aaron born in 1995 with former partner Toukie Smith. Known for his privacy, he rarely gives interviews and guards his personal life.
De Niro’s influence on method acting is profound: he taught Jodie Foster improvisation on Taxi Driver. His performance as Jake LaMotta is ranked #10 on Premiere’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time 2006. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. He is most remembered for his transformative roles and his partnership with Martin Scorsese.
Browse the complete filmography of Robert De Niro — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Robert De Niro — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Robert De Niro — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
It’s Important Not to Indicate. People Don’t Try to Show Their Feelings, They Try to Hide Them.
I Don’t Like to Watch My Own Movies I Fall Asleep in My Own Movies.
Some People Say That Drama Is Easy, and Comedy Is Hard. Not True. I’ve Been Making Comedies the Last Couple of Years, and It’s Nice. When You Make a Drama, You Spend All Day Beating a Guy to Death with a Hammer, or What Have You. or You Have to Take a Bite Out of Somebody’s Face. on the Other Hand, with a Comedy, You Yell at Billy Crystal for an Hour, and You Go Home.
I Go to Paris, I Go to London, I Go to Rome, and I Always Say, There’s No Place Like New York. It’s the Most Exciting City in the World Now. That’s the Way It Is. That’s It.
I’ve Never Been One of Those Actors Who Has Touted Myself as a Fascinating Human Being. I Had to Decide Early on Wether I Was to Be an Actor or a Personality.
People Treat Me with a Bit Too Much Reverence. Look at Dustin Hoffman. I Always Envy the Way He Can Speak and Be Smart and Funny and so On. I Just Can’t Do That.
One of the Things About Acting Is It Allows You to Live Other People’s Lives Without Having to Pay the Price.
I Am Part Italian, I’m Not All Italian. I’m Part Dutch, I’m Part French, I’m Part German, I’m Part Irish. but My Name Is Italian and I Probably Identify More with My Italian Side Than with My Other Parts.
If There Is a God, He Has a Lot to Answer For. You’ll Have Time to Rest When You’re Dead.
After My First Movies, I Gave Interviews. Then I Thought, What’s so Important About Where I Went to School, and Hobbies? What Does Any of That Have to Do with Acting, with My Own Head?.
There Is a Mixture of Anarchy and Discipline in the Way I Work. the Talent Is in the Choices.
Some People Say, New York’s a Great Place to Visit, but I Wouldn’t Want to Live There. I Say That About Other Places.
Movies Are Hard Work. the Public Doesn’t See That. the Critics Don’t See It. but They’re a Lot of Work. a Lot of Work. When I’m Directing a Great Dramatic Scene, Part of Me Is Saying, Thank God, I Don’t Have to Do That. Because I Know How Fucking Hard It Is to Act. It’s the Middle of the Night. It’s Freezing. You Gotta Do This Scene. You Gotta Get It up to Get to That Point. and Yet, as a Director, You’ve Got to Get the Actors to That Point. It’s Hard Either Way.
When I Was a Teenager, I Went to the Dramatic Workshop at the New School. the School Had a Lot of Actors Under the GI Bill Rod Steiger, Harry Belafonte, the Generation Ahead of Me. I Went in There and the Director Said to Me, Vy Do You Vant to Be an Acteh? I Didn’t Know How to Answer, so I Didn’t Say Anything. and He Said, to Express Yourself! and I Said, Yeah, Yeah, That’s It. That’s Right.
The Hardest Thing About Being Famous Is That People Are Always Nice to You. You’re in a Conversation and Everybody’s Agreeing with What You’re Saying Even If You Say Something Totally Crazy. You Need People Who Can Tell You What You Don’t Want to Hear.
I Didn’t Have a Problem with Rejection, Because When You Go into an Audition, You’re Rejected Already. There Are Hundreds of Other Actors. You’re Behind the Eight Ball When You Go in There. at This Point in My Career, I Don’t Have to Deal with Audition Rejections. so I Get My Rejection from Other Things. My Children Can Make Me Feel Rejected. They Can Humble You Pretty Quick.
Money Makes Your Life Easier. If You’re Lucky to Have It, You’re Lucky.
I Only Go to Los Angeles When I Am Paid for It.
Nobody Has Moved Me from My Seat Yet. But, Just in Case, I’ve Bought My Own Restaurants.
I Like New York Because I Can Still Walk the Streets and Sit Down in a Bar or Restaurant and Observe People. If You Can’t Properly Observe, as an Actor, You’re Finished. the Impression Sometimes Given Is That I Can’t Leave My Own Home Without Being Recognized or Bothered in the Street. That’s Just Not True. I Can Go Out, at Leisure, Meet People for Lunch or Take My Kids to the Park. I Don’t Think I Am Glamorous Enough for Hollywood.
I Have Lived in Los Angeles, Working in Hollywood, Countless Times, Doing Movies. I Am Not Against the Place. I Was Not a Young Actor Kicking Around, Living by the Seat of My Pants, Desperate for Work. I Went by Invitation, and My Experiences Have Been Good Ones. but I Have Never Chosen to Live There Full Time.
You Can Look into My Background All You Like, but I Have Never Had Problems with Authority on Film Sets. Even If I Disagree with a Director, I Work Through It. I Am Also Not One for Regrets. I Don’t Regret Any Film I’ve Made, Because There Was a Reason for Making It at the Time. If It Hasn’t Worked Out, Then Don’t Spend Time Worrying About Why and How. Just Move on to the Next Project.
Difficult? Me? I Don’t Think I Am Difficult Compared to Other People. It Is Hard to Make a Movie at the Best of Times, so You Don’t Want to Give People a Hard Time. People All Have Their Own Agendas. but It Is Not Worth Acting Out Something from Your Own History to Make a Point on a Film Set. If You Have a Problem With, Say, Your Father or Some Other Father Figure, Why Give the Director a Tough Time?
I Always Wanted to Direct. Directing Is a Lot More of a Commitment Though, a Lot More Time. I Like Directors Who Do Very Few Takes, They Know What They Want. as for Me, I Know When I Have a Shot, but I Might Want Back Up, and One Other Take. You Never Know. If It’s About Capturing a Moment, You’re Never Going to Be Able to Go Back and Repeat It, You Go with It. It’s a Tricky Thing. I Go Through All the Footage, and Look at Everything.
Some Things You Learn from Just Being in Movies, so I See What’s Getting Done, How It’s Getting Done. I Know What Making a Film Is Going to Take, How Much Time. I Almost Don’t Even Think About It. If I’m in a Movie, I Can Sense If Something Is Not Quite Right, If the Rhythm Is Off.
I Know It’s Important to Give Everybody as Much Freedom as You Can so That They Don’t Feel There Are Any Limitations. with Any Mistake They Could Make, Everything Is Fine. and Then They’re Not Afraid to Try Things or Trust You When You Say, Look, Let’s Try and Go in This Direction. That’s Very Important with Actors and All Other Creative Elements.
I Just Can’t Fake Acting. I Know Movies Are an Illusion, and Maybe the First Rule Is to Fake It, but Not for Me. I’m Too Curious. I Want to Deal with All the Facts of the Character, Thin or Fat.
When You’re Directing, You Think of Everything . . . the Few Times I’ve Directed, If Someone Comes up with Something You Missed, You’re Glad to Hear That.
I’m Hoping That If Things Work Out with Digital Technology, They Can Finally Make Us Look Younger and I Can Go on for Another 40 Years.
Little-known facts about Robert De Niro — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese grew up just blocks apart in Greenwich Village but did not meet until a party in 1972, where they discovered they had seen each other often but never spoken.
He spent four months learning the Sicilian dialect to play Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II 1974, speaking nearly all his dialogue in Sicilian.
He was good friends with comedian John Belushi, who died of an overdose on March 5, 1982. De Niro visited Belushi at 3:00 a.m. that morning but left after seeing he was sick.
Growing up in Little Italy, his nickname was Bobby Milk because he was so thin and pale.
He and Marlon Brando are the only two actors to win an Oscar for playing the same character, Vito Corleone.
He was the one who first told Martin Scorsese about Leonardo DiCaprio after working with him on This Boy’s Life 1993.
During a sparring scene in Raging Bull 1980, he accidentally broke Joe Pesci’s rib, and that shot appears in the film.
He formerly held the world record for most weight gained for a movie, gaining over 60 pounds for Raging Bull 1980.
He was originally cast as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York 2002 but pulled out because he would have to spend six months in Europe.
Rarely does interviews; a late 1990s Esquire article focused on how guarded he is, listing off-limit subjects including politics, religion, and family.
Only child of painters Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. His father came out as homosexual and left the family when De Niro was two.
He was considered for the role of Harry Lime in Home Alone 1990, which went to his best friend Joe Pesci.
He and Joe Pesci have appeared together in seven films: Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America, GoodFellas, A Bronx Tale, Casino, The Good Shepherd, and The Irishman.
He has said Meryl Streep is his favorite actress to work with.
He is one of five performers to win an Oscar for a role where most dialogue is in a foreign language.
As of the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, De Niro is the most represented actor with 14 films.
For the role of Max Cady in Cape Fear 1991, he paid a dentist $5,000 to make his teeth look bad and $20,000 to fix them after filming.
After marrying Diahnne Abbott, he adopted her daughter Drena, who refuses to identify her biological father.
He first discovered his love for acting at age 10 when he played the Cowardly Lion in a local production of The Wizard of Oz. He dropped out of high school to join a gang.
After being involved in a Paris prostitution ring investigation 1998, he denied involvement and vowed never to return to France.
Limousine drivers in Los Angeles refer to him as No Dinero because of his less than generous tips.
British pop group Bananarama had a song called Robert De Niro’s Waiting 1984. He arranged to meet them, but they got drunk before he arrived.
He became a father for the fifth time at age 68 when his daughter Helen Grace was born via surrogate in December 2011.
He was the first performer to win an Oscar for a performance in a sequel, for The Godfather Part II 1974.
Unlike Marlon Brando, who preceded him as Don Vito Corleone, De Niro actually has Italian ancestry.
When they met shortly before Mean Streets 1973, De Niro and Harvey Keitel became fast friends and remain close.
He based the movement of his character Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver 1976 on that of a crab.
He underwent surgery for prostate cancer at New York’s Sloan-Kettering Hospital, and the cancer has gone into remission.
At age 17, after leaving the movies with a friend, he announced he would become a film actor. He dropped out of high school and joined Stella Adler’s acting school.
He started the awards show ribbon tradition by wearing a green ribbon at the 1981 Academy Awards in remembrance of Atlanta child murder victims.
Speaks fluent Italian and French.
Co-owns the Rubicon restaurant in San Francisco with Francis Ford Coppola and Robin Williams, and co-owns many Nobu restaurants worldwide.
Read the book Raging Bull while filming The Godfather Part II 1974; both roles won him Oscars.
Was voted the No. 2 greatest movie star of all time in a Channel 4 UK poll, behind Al Pacino.
He married Grace Hightower in 1997; they renewed vows in 1999 but filed for divorce later that year. The divorce was never finalized, and they had a second child in 2011.
He visited Michael Jackson on the set of Moonwalker 1988.
President of the jury at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
At the AFI Life Achievement Awards, Jodie Foster credited De Niro with teaching her true craft by insisting on rehearsals and improvisation during Taxi Driver.
Became a father of twins Julian and Aaron at age 52 via surrogate with Toukie Smith in 1995.
Became a father for the first time at age 33 when his son Raphael was born in 1976.
The Godfather 1972 predicts both of his Oscar-winning roles: in a scene with Vito Corleone, a poster advertising a Jake LaMotta fight can be seen.
Before Martin Scorsese was hired to direct Taxi Driver, many actors were considered for the role of Travis Bickle, including Jeff Bridges, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino.
His performance as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull is ranked #10 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time 2006.
He has the most films in the IMDB top 250 of any actor, with 10 films represented.
The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is 21 years, between Cape Fear 1991 and Silver Linings Playbook 2012.
Although often called an Italian-American actor, he is actually one quarter Italian. He identifies more with his Italian side and was inducted into the Italian-American Hall of Fame in 2002.
First guest to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 2, 2009.
He has appeared in 11 films nominated for Best Picture Oscar; only The Godfather Part II and The Deer Hunter won.
After Once Upon a Time in America 1984, director Sergio Leone planned to cast De Niro in a film about the siege of Leningrad, but Leone’s death in 1989 prevented it.
Shares a birthday with friend and occasional co-star Sean Penn.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Robert De Niro.
Celebrities similar to Robert De Niro — same craft, ranked by reach.
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