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| Birth Name(s) : Robert De Niro |
Date of Birth: August 17, 1943 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
Grace Hightower |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Robert De Niro Biography
Robert De Niro is often thought of as one of the greatest actors of his time and is infamous for his borderline psychotic characters prone to brutal and violent behavior. He is often incorrectly referred to as Italian-American when the majority of his heritage is Irish.
Robert first gained fame for his role in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973) and recieved Academy Awards for "The Godfather: Part II" (1974) and "Raging Bull" (1980). He was also nominated for "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The Deer Hunter" (1978) and "Cape Fear" (1991). |
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Additional Robert De Niro Biography
Robert De Niro (born August 17, 1943) is a two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning American film actor, director, and producer.
He is noted for his method acting and portrayal of conflicted, troubled characters, for his enduring collaboration with director Martin Scorsese and for his early work with director Brian De Palma. He is best known for his roles in The Godfather Part II, The Deer Hunter, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas.
In these films, De Niro has primarily played charming sociopaths. 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 improvised himself."You talkin' to me?" Alone in his apartment, De Niro as Travis Bickle postures and practices his moves in front of the mirror.
In 1976, De Niro appeared, along with Gérard Depardieu and Donald Sutherland, in Bernardo Bertolucci's epic biographical exploration of life during World War II, Novecento (1900), seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends at the opposite sides of society's hierarchy.
Although unmistakably better known for his roles in Scorsese's films, he starred in Sergio Leone's last film: a four-hour gangster movie titled Once Upon a Time in America. Leone had spent almost ten years of his life trying to obtain the rights to get the film, which unfortunately underplayed both with critics and audiences alike. Leone still found it better than his previous films (i.e. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly). He even said that Robert de Niro was a real actor, unlike Clint Eastwood.
On June 7, 2006, it was announced that De Niro donated his film archive, including scripts, costumes, and props, to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. De Niro has said that he is working with Martin Scorsese on a new project. "I'm trying to actually work...Eric Roth (screenwriter) 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 first and only time in The Score (2001). De Niro actually auditioned for the role of Sonny in the first Godfather 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's performance is one of only four to win an Academy Award for working in a foreign language, as he primarily spoke Italian, with very few phrases in English.
De Niro has been married twice. He has a son, Raphael, with first wife Diahnne Abbott. He also adopted Abbott's daughter, Drena, from a previous relationship. He also has twin sons, Julian Henry and Aaron Kendrick, (conceived by in vitro fertilization) from a long-term live-in relationship with former model Toukie Smith. Raphael, a former actor, now works in New York real estate.
In February 1998, during a film shoot in France, he was taken in for questioning for nine hours by French police and 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 Honour back to the ambassador, as soon as possible". French judicial sources say that the actor is regarded as a potential witness, not a suspect. In 2003, Robert De Niro, with film director Woody Allen, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and writer George Plimpton joined a pro-French tourism campaign as a direct response to anti-French sentiment in the US related to the 2003 Iraq invasion.
De Niro was due to be bestowed with honorary 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, and stating, "The last thing I would want to do is offend anyone. I love Italy." The citizenship was conferred to De Niro on October 21, 2006, during the Rome Film Festival finale. |
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Robert De Niro Quote(s)
| I don't like to watch my own movies - I fall asleep in my own movies. |
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