Robert De Niro Biography

A Robert De Niro Jr. was born in New York on 17th August 1943. His mother, Virginia Admiral was a painter and his father, Robert De Niro Sr. was a painter, sculptor and poet. At the age of ten he played his first stage role, appearing in the Wizard of Oz as the Cowardly Lion.

His childhood was mostly spent hanging around with a small-time gang, but acting eventually returned. His first paying gig as an actor was in a touring performance of Chekhov's The Bear. He worked steadily in dinner theaters and Off-Broadway, studying with Method acting teachers Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg.

After completing graduation at the Little Red School House Robert De Niro made is first appearence in Greetings (1968) which was directed by Brian De Palma. After that, he played some major and minor roles in other films, Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965) (as an extra), Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), and Hi, Mom.

The Role of Bruce Pearson, a dying baseball player in Bang the Drum earned him a New York Film Critics award for Best Actor. In 1973 he worked with Martin Scorsese in the film Mean Streets. They worked together, and over the years they have made Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, New York, New York, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear and Casino.

In 1974, Robert De Niro caught the attention of audiences as well as he apppeared as a young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Part II. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for that performance. Travis Bickle is arguably De Niro's most famous role, and it earned him the first of five Best Actor nominations from the Academy Awards.

He started the 80's with his performance of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. His dedication to his craft was exemplified by his gaining of 60 pounds to play the role. Other roles in the 80's included Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy with Jerry Lewis, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Mission, The Untouchables and Midnight Run. In the mid-1980s, De Niro began expanding into occasional comedic roles, and has had much success in that area as well with such films as Brazil (1985), Midnight Run (1988), Wag the Dog (1997), Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000).

In 2001, De Niro worked opposite Ed Burns in 15 Minutes and with Marlon Brando and Edward Norton on The Score. Robert worked with Eddie Murphy in 2002's Showtime. That same year, he appeared in City by the Sea and revisted his neurotic gangster, Paul Vitti, in the sequel Analyze That. His appearance in 2004's Godsend was mostly trashed by the critics.

Robert De Niro has also done some comedy films. This includes Midnight Run (1988), Wag The Dog (1997, with Dustin Hoffman), Analyze This (1999) and Meet The Parents (2000, with Ben Stiller). He also starred in movies like Backdraft (1991), Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Mistress (1992), Night and the City (1992), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), and This Boy's Life (1993).

Robert De Niro is often compared to fellow iconic actor Al Pacino and they finally worked together in Michael Mann's Heat (1995). De Niro played a younger version of Pacino's father in The Godfather, Part II.

In 1976, Robert De Niro married actress and singer Diahnne Abbott, but they were later divorced in 1988. Nine years later, on June 17, 1997, De Niro tied the knot with Grace Hightower and they separated in 1999. The couple renewed their wedding vows on November 20, 2004.

De Niro has four sons, Elliott (born on March 18, 1998, mother: Grace Hightower), Aaron Kendrick and Julian Henry (twins, born on October 20, 1995, mother: Toukie Smithtwin), and Raphael (born in 1978, mother: Diahnne Abbott). He also has one adopted daughter, Dreena (model), who is Diahnne Abbott's daughter from a previous marriage.