Robert De Niro
Early Life
Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943, in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York. His parents, both painters, were Robert De Niro Sr. and Virginia Admiral. De Niro's parents divorced when he was two years old, and he was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and Little Italy areas of Manhattan. His father lived within walking distance and remained a significant influence in his life.
De Niro attended PS 41, a public elementary school in Manhattan, for the fourth and fifth grades. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the private upper school of the Little Red School House, for the sixth and seventh grades. De Niro then attended the High School of Music and Art for the eighth grade, a school specializing in visual and performing arts. He was accepted into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts for high school. However, he dropped out of school at age 16 to pursue acting.
Career
De Niro's film career began in the 1960s with Brian De Palma's film The Wedding Party, which was not released until 1969. He gained popular attention with his role as a dying Major League Baseball player in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and began his collaboration with director Martin Scorsese when he played the small-time criminal Johnny Boy in Scorsese's film Mean Streets (1973).
De Niro's first major film roles were in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and Scorsese's crime film Mean Streets (1973). He is best known for his collaborations with Scorsese, including the films Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and The King of Comedy (1982). He also starred in The Godfather Part II (1974), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
In the 1980s, De Niro starred in such films as Brazil (1985), The Mission (1986), and Midnight Run (1988). He continued to work with Scorsese in the 1990s, starring in Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). He also starred in Heat (1995) and Ronin (1998).
In the 2000s, De Niro appeared in such films as Meet the Parents (2000), Analyze This (1999), and its sequel Analyze That (2002). He also continued to work with Scorsese, starring in Gangs of New York (2002) and The Departed (2006).
In the 2010s, De Niro's notable roles included Silver Linings Playbook (2012), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and The Irishman (2019), which marked his ninth collaboration with Scorsese.
Personal Life
De Niro has been married twice. His first wife was Diahnne Abbott, with whom he has a son, Raphael, a former actor who works in New York real estate. De Niro also adopted Abbott's daughter from a previous relationship. They divorced in 1988. In 1997, De Niro married Grace Hightower. Their son Elliot was born in 1998 and their daughter Helen Grace was born via surrogate in 2011. In November 2018, De Niro and Hightower separated after 21 years of marriage.
De Niro has four other children: twin sons Julian and Aaron (born 1995) with former model Toukie Smith, and a son (born 2011) and a daughter (born 2012) with Hightower.
Awards and Honors
De Niro has received numerous awards for his performances. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather Part II (1974) and the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Raging Bull (1980). He has also received four Golden Globe nominations, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in Raging Bull. In 2011, De Niro was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, and in 2016, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
See Also
Martin Scorsese The Godfather Part II Raging Bull
