Birth Name: Robert Anthony De Niro Jr.
Real Name/Stage Name: Robert De Niro
Birth Date: August 17, 1943
Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Occupation(s): Actor, Producer, Director
Years Active: 1963 till Present
Net Worth: $500 million
Latest Film: The Comeback Trail
Personal Life
Robert De Niro was born in New York’s Manhattan boroughs, the only child of his parents. He was raised by his mother; his father lived nearby and remained close with him throughout his childhood.
The actor got married to actress Diahnne Abbott in 1976 and they have a son, Raphael (a former actor). He adopted Abbott’s daughter Dreno from a previous relationship.
De Niro and Abbott divorced in 1988. He then dated model Toukie Smith between 1988 and 1996. He has twin sons, Julian and Aaron, born via in vitro fertilization and delivered by a surrogate mother in 1995.
In 1997, he married actress Grace Hightower. Their son, Elliott, was born in 1988. The pair split in 1999. As the divorce was never finalized, they renewed their vows in 2004. They welcomed their daughter in December 2011 via surrogacy. Four years later, it was reported that they had separated.
De Niro has four grandchildren; one from his daughter Drena and three from his son Raphael.
Education
He attended PS 41, a public elementary school in Manhattan up until the sixth grade, and began taking acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop.
De Niro later enrolled at the Elisabeth Irwin High School for his seventh and eighth grades and was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade. He attended for only a short time before transferring to a public junior high school.
He went to McBurney School and later Rhodes Preparatory School.
Career
De Niro had small roles in Encounter, Three Rooms in Manhattan (both released in 1965), and Les Jeunes Loups (1968). Not too long after, he nabbed a starring role in the satire Greetings (1968).
A year later, he was seen in the drama Sam’s Song and appeared in Brian De Palma’s comedy The Wedding Party. In 1972, the actor featured in two theatrical performances at the American Place Theatre.
The star returned to the big screen with Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), playing a Major League baseball player. The movie was critically acclaimed and his performance lauded by critics.
He started working with Martin Scorsese, appearing in the crime drama Mean Streets (1973) alongside Harvey Keitel. He also had a significant part in Francis Ford Coppola’s crime epic The Godfather Part II (1974).
De Niro collaborated with Scorsese again in the psychological drama Taxi Driver (1976). He lost 30 pounds, took firearm training, and studied how taxi drivers behaved to prepare for the role. His portrayal and the film were critically acclaimed.
In 1980, the actor had his fourth collaboration with Scorsese in the biographical drama Raging Bull. He played a middleweight boxer, gaining 60 pounds. Yet again, the film got critical acclaim and De Niro received high praise.
Between 1981 and 1991, he featured in dramas and comedies and made his directorial debut (also starring in the film) in 1993 with the film A Bronze Tale.
In Ronin (1998), he played an American mercenary and starred in his first live-action animation in 2000 with the movie The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
His only project in 2007 was in Matthew Vaughn’s fantasy adventure Stardust. He had a small role in the 2010 action film Machete.
In 2015, he was seen in two short films, The Audition and Ellis. He starred in the biographical drama Joy (2015) opposite Jennifer Lawrence.
2019 saw him appear alongside Joaquin Phoenix in the DC origin film Joker. He also starred in the 2020 comedy The War with Grandpa.
Awards
National Society of Film Critics Award (1974, 1977)
New York Film Critics Circle Award (1974, 1977, 1981, 1991)
Academy Award (1975, 1981)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award (1976, 1980)
National Board of Review Award (1980, 1990)
Golden Globe Award (1981)
Boston Society of Film Critics Award (1981)
Christopher Award (1997)
Blockbuster Entertainment Award (2000)
MTV Movie Award (2001)
Berlin International Film Festival Award (2007)
Cecil B. DeMille Award (2011)
Detroit Film Critics Society Award (2012)
Australian Academy of Cinema Award (2013)
Satellite Award (2017)
Screen Actors Guild Award (2020)
Critics’ Choice Award (2020)
Quotes
“I do not like to watch my own movies. I fall asleep in my own movies.”
“I’ve never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality.”
“People treat me with 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.”
Trivia
He turned down the role of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
He discovered his love for acting when he was 10.
He was voted the best actor of all time by FilmFour.com in 2002.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2003.
Movies
Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965)
The Wedding Party (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Last Tycoon (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
Brazil (1985)
Jacknife (1989)
A Bronx Tale (1993)
Cop Land (1997)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Shark Tale (2004)
Righteous Kill (2008)
Stone (2010)
Limitless (2011)
Joy (2015)
The Irishman (2019)
Joker (2019)
The War with Grandpa (2020)
The Comeback Trail (2020)