Robert De Niro

Biography

One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop. De Niro first gained fame for his role in Das letzte Spiel (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Hexenkessel (1973), which was his first film with director Martin Scorsese. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Der Pate 2 (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in Taxi Driver (1976), Die durch die Hölle gehen (1978) and Kap der Angst (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Wie ein wilder Stier (1980). De Niro has earned four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for his work in New York, New York (1977), opposite Liza Minnelli, Midnight Run – 5 Tage bis Mitternacht (1988), Reine Nervensache (1999) and Meine Braut, ihr Vater und ich (2000). Other notable performances include Brazil (1985), Die Unbestechlichen (1987), Backdraft – Männer, die durchs Feuer gehen (1991), Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (1994), Heat (1995), Casino (1995) and Jackie Brown (1997). At the same time, he also directed and starred in such films as In den Straßen der Bronx (1993) and Der gute Hirte (2006). De Niro has also received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010.