1. Robert De Niro is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation.
150 Facts About Robert De Niro
1. 2.
De Niro is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for eight BAFTA Awards and four Emmy Awards.
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Robert De Niro was honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, the Cecil B DeMille Award in 2011, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2025.
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De Niro studied acting at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio.
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Robert De Niro's first credited screen role was in Brian de Palma's Greetings.
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De Niro has earned two Academy Awards: one for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part II and the other for Best Actor portraying Jake LaMotta in Scorsese's drama Raging Bull.
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De Niro was Oscar-nominated for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Awakenings, Cape Fear, Silver Linings Playbook, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
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Robert De Niro is known for his film roles in Bang the Drum Slowly, 1900, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Mission, Angel Heart, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, This Boy's Life, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Heat, Casino, Jackie Brown, Joker, and The Irishman.
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Robert De Niro directed and acted in both A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd.
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Also known for his television roles, De Niro portrayed Bernie Madoff in the HBO film The Wizard of Lies, earning a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
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Robert De Niro received further Emmy Award nominations for producing the Netflix limited series When They See Us, and for portraying Robert Mueller on Saturday Night Live.
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Robert De Niro's father was of Irish and Italian descent, while his mother had Dutch, English, French, and German ancestry.
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De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and Little Italy neighborhoods of Manhattan.
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Robert De Niro's father lived nearby, and remained close with De Niro during his childhood.
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Robert De Niro's mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, while his father had been a lapsed Catholic since the age of 12.
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De Niro attended PS 41, a public elementary school in Manhattan, through the sixth grade.
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Robert De Niro began acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop and made his stage debut in school at age 10, playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.
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Robert De Niro later went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House, for the seventh and eighth grades.
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De Niro attended high school at McBurney School and later, Rhodes Preparatory School.
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Robert De Niro found performing as a way to relieve his shyness, and became fascinated by cinema, so he dropped out of high school at 16 to pursue acting.
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De Niro studied with Stella Adler, of the Stella Adler Conservatory, where he was exposed to the techniques of the Stanislavski system.
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De Niro had minor film roles in Encounter, Three Rooms in Manhattan and Les Jeunes Loups.
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Shortly afterwards, De Niro landed a major role in Greetings, a satirical film about men avoiding the Vietnam War draft.
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Robert De Niro then appeared in Roger Corman's low-budget crime drama Bloody Mama, a loose adaptation of Ma Barker's life, who was the mother of four American criminals, of which De Niro portrayed one: Lloyd Barker.
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Robert De Niro had a small role in Jennifer on My Mind and in Ivan Passer's Born to Win.
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In 1972, De Niro starred in two performances at The American Place Theatre, directed by Charles Maryan.
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Robert De Niro then returned to the big screen with Bang the Drum Slowly, in which he played the lead role as Bruce Pearson, a Major League Baseball player with Hodgkin disease.
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Robert De Niro's co-stars were Michael Moriarty and Vincent Gardenia.
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The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "De Niro proves himself to be one of the best and most likable young character actors in movies with this performance".
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Variety magazine's Alex Belth took note of De Niro's "touching" portrayal, while Gardenia was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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In 1973, De Niro began collaborating with Martin Scorsese when he appeared in the crime film Mean Streets, co-starring Harvey Keitel.
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De Niro had a pivotal role in Francis Ford Coppola's crime epic The Godfather Part II, playing the young Vito Corleone.
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De Niro had previously auditioned for the first installment, The Godfather, but quit the project in favor of doing The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.
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In preparation for the role, De Niro spent time with members of a US army base to learn their Midwestern accent and mannerisms.
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Robert De Niro lost 30 pounds in weight, took firearm training and studied the behavior of taxi drivers.
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Robert De Niro starred in 1900, a historical drama directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
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De Niro learned to play the saxophone from musician Georgie Auld, to portray saxophonist Jimmy, who falls in love with a pop singer.
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In 1978, De Niro starred in Michael Cimino's epic war film The Deer Hunter, in which he played a steelworker whose life was changed after serving in the Vietnam War.
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Robert De Niro co-starred with Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza.
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De Niro was strongly considered for the role of Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, but it ended up going to Jack Nicholson, the director's first choice for the role.
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De Niro returned to the crime genre with True Confessions, adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by John Gregory Dunne.
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Less challenging than his previous film, De Niro played a priest who clashes with his brother, a detective investigating the murder of a prostitute.
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Robert De Niro found it in The King of Comedy, in which he played the struggling stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin.
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De Niro was first to bring the script to the attention of Scorsese, who then gave it a New York setting and darker tone.
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One year later, De Niro starred in a science fiction for the first time, Brazil, about a daydreaming man living in a dystopian society.
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In May 1986, De Niro returned to the stage at Longacre Theatre, playing the lead role in the production Cuba and His Teddy Bear.
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Vincent Canby reviewed the film negatively, and was critical of De Niro's casting: "De Niro, who was very fine as the street-wise priest in True Confessions, is all right here until he opens his mouth".
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De Niro has reduced himself in scale here, too, and it's a relief to see him drop the great-actor mantle, and the theatricality.
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Robert De Niro turned down an opportunity to play Jesus Christ in Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, although he told the director that he would do it as a favor if needed.
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In 1989, De Niro starred in several films that were not widely seen.
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Robert De Niro starred alongside Ed Harris and Kathy Baker in the drama Jacknife.
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De Niro played James Conway, an Irish truck carjacker and gangster.
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Also in 1990, De Niro appeared in the lead role for Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall.
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Robert De Niro then had a minor role in the mystery drama Backdraft, playing a veteran fire inspector.
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De Niro portrays convicted rapist Max Cady, who seeks revenge against a former public defender who originally defended him.
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Robert De Niro was cast as New York lawyer Harry Fabian.
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De Niro starred in his directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, a coming-of-age story about an Italian-American boy who is torn between the temptations of organized crime, racism in his community, and the values of his decent father.
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De Niro portrays Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a mob-connected casino operator in Las Vegas.
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Art Linson, who had previously produced films starring De Niro, sent him the script first.
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Heat marked the first time that Pacino and De Niro appeared on-screen together; they were both in The Godfather Part II but were never in any scenes together because the film takes place in two separate timelines.
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In 1995, De Niro had minor roles in the French comedy One Hundred and One Nights and in the drama Panther.
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In 1996, De Niro starred in the sports thriller The Fan, based on the novel of the same name by Peter Abrahams.
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De Niro plays Gil Renard, a baseball fanatic who loses his sanity.
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De Niro plays priest Bobby Carillo, a father figure to the four boys.
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In 1996 a video game produced by De Niro called 9: The Last Resort was released.
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De Niro met the game's director Buzz Hayes when Hayes worked at Lucasfilm.
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The film opened to a generally warm response, although Barbara Shulgasser of San Francisco Examiner criticized De Niro's acting in certain scenes, suggesting Mangold put De Niro in a "manufactured situation", preventing him from realizing his full potential.
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De Niro had a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown in that same year.
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De Niro began 1998 with an appearance in Great Expectations, a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1861 novel of the same name, in which he played Arthur Lustig.
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De Niro plays Sam, an American mercenary formerly associated with the CIA.
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In 1999, De Niro ventured back into crime-comedy; he was cast as an insecure mob boss opposite Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow in Harold Ramis' Analyze This.
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The film was a box office hit, earning $176 million worldwide, and De Niro was nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globes.
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In Flawless, De Niro appeared as a homophobic police officer, who suffers a stroke, and is assigned to a rehabilitative program with a gay singer.
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The critic from the BBC gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and thought De Niro gave a "refreshingly low-key" performance, in comparison to his previous work.
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In 2000, De Niro produced and starred in his first live-action animation comedy, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
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Robert De Niro voiced the character Fearless Leader, who is a dictator and employer of two mobsters.
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De Niro played Master Chief 'Billy' Sunday in the biographical drama Men of Honor, based on the life of Carl Brashear, the first African-American to become a US Navy Master Diver.
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De Niro followed up with a heist, in Frank Oz's The Score, starring Edward Norton, Angela Bassett and Marlon Brando.
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Robert De Niro plays a retiring thief when a young man persuades him into doing one last heist together.
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The reviewer from LA Weekly remarked "De Niro isn't actually playing a part but riffing on his own legend", and thought the references to Taxi Driver were "cheap".
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Robert De Niro appeared in Analyze That, a sequel to 1999's Analyze This.
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Robert De Niro returned to the screen in 2004, playing a doctor in the fantasy drama Godsend.
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Robert De Niro voiced a character in DreamWorks' animation of Shark Tale.
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In 2005, De Niro starred in the horror Hide and Seek opposite Dakota Fanning, playing Dr David Callaway who leaves the city with his traumatized daughter after the mother's suicide.
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In 2006, De Niro turned down a role in The Departed to direct his second film, the spy thriller The Good Shepherd, a fictional account about the growth of the CIA during its formative years.
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Robert De Niro plays Captain Shakespeare, the leader of a ship.
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The film's response was mainly disappointing; Peter Hartlaub of San Francisco Chronicle thought the story was unoriginal and De Niro lacked energy.
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The film was met with a divided reception; Toronto Star critic thought De Niro delivered a respectable performance due to Jovovich's support.
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That year, De Niro was cast in Edge of Darkness, but he left the project citing creative differences.
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In 2011, De Niro starred in the Italian comedy Manuale d'amore 3.
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Robert De Niro appeared in three other films: Killer Elite, Limitless, and New Year's Eve.
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De Niro was appointed president of the jury for the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, making it the second time he has served.
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De Niro appeared in the thrillers Red Lights and Freelancers.
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De Niro made his first appearance in a David O Russell film, in the romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook, as the father of Pat Solatano, who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents to rebuild his life.
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In 2012, De Niro served as an executive producer for the television series NYC 22.
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The latter fared better with critics; Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times cordially remarked "De Niro brings a fresh, relaxed lightness to his performance, tinged with the gruff charm of Spencer Tracy".
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Robert De Niro's performance won him a nomination from the Critics Choice Movie Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy.
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Robert De Niro starred in the biographical drama Joy, opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, about an American inventor Joy Mangano; it gained generally mixed reviews.
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Robert De Niro appeared in Hands of Stone, a biographical sports drama about the career of Panamanian former professional boxer Roberto Duran.
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In 2017, De Niro starred as Bernie Madoff in Barry Levinson's HBO film The Wizard of Lies, a performance which earned him critical praise and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Television Movie.
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Robert De Niro received another Emmy nomination for his work as a producer on Ava DuVernay's acclaimed limited series When They See Us.
102.
In 2019, De Niro returned to the screen by playing talk show host Murray Franklin in Todd Phillips' Joker, a possible origin story for the Batman character The Joker.
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Also that year, De Niro reunited with Scorsese for The Irishman, based on the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.
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In September 2020, De Niro appeared in Nancy Meyers' comedy short film Father of the Bride Part 3.
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Also in that year, De Niro appeared in The Comeback Trail, a crime comedy directed by George Gallo.
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De Niro was cast in James Gray's period drama Armageddon Time, but he dropped out of the project by the time production began.
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In January 2021, De Niro signed on for the historical comedy Amsterdam, playing an army veteran.
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The reviewer from South China Morning Post thought De Niro "brings just the right gravitas to his decorated general".
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De Niro appeared in Savage Salvation as Sheriff Church, which was released on December 2,2022.
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In 2023, De Niro played William King Hale, a cattleman and perpetrator of the Osage Indian murders, in Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Scorsese and adapted from the book of the same name by David Grann.
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Robert De Niro starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.
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De Niro received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for the role.
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In 2023, De Niro appeared in the comedy About My Father, and in the television series Nada.
114.
De Niro said he took interest in the film as it features the complexities of parenting an autistic child; De Niro has an autistic son himself.
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John Naughton of GQ magazine believes that De Niro has "redefined what we can expect of an actor".
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In 2009, he was announced as one of the Kennedy Center Honorees with the commemoration: "One of America's greatest cinematic actors, Robert De Niro has demonstrated a legendary commitment to his characters and has co-founded one of the world's major film festivals".
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In 2006, De Niro donated his collection of film-related materials, such as scripts, wardrobe pieces and props, to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
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In 2025, De Niro is set to receive the Cannes Film Festival's Honorary Palme d'Or.
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De Niro owns Tribeca Grill, a New American restaurant located at 375 Greenwich Street in Tribeca, Manhattan.
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Robert De Niro is the owner of the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca.
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Robert De Niro is a stakeholder in Paradise Found Nobu Resort, a company planning to build a luxury resort on the island of Barbuda.
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De Niro is a long-term resident of New York City, and has been investing in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood since 1989.
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Robert De Niro has properties on the east and west sides of Manhattan.
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Robert De Niro has a 78-acre estate in Gardiner, New York, which serves as his primary residence.
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In 1998, De Niro lobbied US Congress against impeaching President Bill Clinton.
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In October 2003, De Niro was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
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Robert De Niro underwent surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in December 2003.
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In 2006, De Niro received Italian citizenship, despite opposition by the Sons of Italy, who believe that De Niro damaged the public image of Italians by portraying criminals.
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In 2012, De Niro joined the anti-fracking campaign Artists Against Fracking.
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In 2013, De Niro attended Israeli President Shimon Peres's 90th birthday celebration, as well as the Israeli Presidential conference.
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Robert De Niro explained that his interest in the film was from his personal experience with his autistic son, Elliot.
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De Niro has stated that he is not anti-vaccination, but does question their efficacy.
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Later in 2016, De Niro attended an annual celebrity gala for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
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In October 2018, De Niro was targeted by an explosive device.
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De Niro was a supporter of President Joe Biden for re-election in 2024, and backed Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign after Biden dropped out of the race.
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Robert De Niro had previously criticized President Donald Trump, calling him a "buffoon", believing he could become a "vicious dictator", and comparing his politics to fascism.
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De Niro adopted Abbott's daughter Drena from a previous relationship.
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De Niro has four grandchildren: one from his daughter Drena and three from his son Raphael.
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Hightower's lawyer claimed that since the pair filed for divorce in 2018, De Niro had been "unfairly decreasing" the agreed-upon payments to her.
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At age 79, De Niro is one of the oldest fathers on record.
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In February 1998, De Niro was held for questioning by French police in connection with an international prostitution ring.
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De Niro denied any involvement, and later filed a complaint against the examining magistrate for "violation of secrecy in an investigation".
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Robert De Niro stated he would not return to France, but has since traveled there several times including for the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
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In 1999, De Niro threatened to sue the owners of "De Niro's Supper Club" in Vancouver, under section 3 of the BC Privacy Act.
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Robert De Niro was unaware that a lawsuit was filed; the trust's accountants took responsibility citing fiduciary duty.
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Shortly afterwards, De Niro directed his lawyer, Tom Harvey, to withdraw the suit and reimburse the town's legal bills of $129,000.
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Harvey conveyed to Wiegand that "De Niro didn't want to screw the town".
148.
In October 2019, Robinson filed a lawsuit against De Niro, claiming harassment and gender discrimination.
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De Niro has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:.
150.
Robert De Niro was the 56th recipient of Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award; Leonardo DiCaprio, who co-starred with De Niro in This Boy's Life, presented him the award, citing him as an inspiration and influence.