Date of birth :17 August 1943
Height: 5’9’’
Father:Robert De Niro Sr.who was a poet, sculptor, and painter
Mother: Mother, Virginia Admiral, was also a painter
Nickname: Called ’Bobby Milk’becoz of his scrawniness
Education: Stella Adler Conservatory in New York
American Workshop
New York University (received Honorary Doctorate in 1996)
Studied acting with Luther James and Lee Strasberg
’’I don’t like to watch my own movies - I fall asleep in my own movies.’’
Hopes dashed to the floor
Like shattered teenage dreams
Boys living next door are never what they seem
A walk in the park can become a bad dream
People are staring and following me
This is my only escape from it all
Watching a film or a face on the wall
(Chorus)
Robert De Niro’s waiting
Talking Italian
Robert De Niro’s waiting
Talking Italian
I don’t want a boy, I’ve got a man of steel......
Remember this song by Bananarama in the 80’s ? based on Robert De Niro, who is thought to be one of the greatest actors of his time.
De Niro made his debut at the age of ten when he played the Cowardly Lion in a The Wizard of Oz De Niro abandoned the theatre and he had a brief involvement with a small-time street gang.
At 16 he was back to acting in Chekov’s The Bear.
De Niro trained with Stella Adler & Lee Strasberg, soon he felt he must do something on his own professional career on stage, working on and off Broadway, in dinner theatre, and in the occasional television.
The Hollywood heavyweight’s ’real’ debut came in Brian De Palma’s The Wedding Party in 1959.In 1966 he did a movie called Greetings Unfortunately, the film was a flop.
By 1973, De Niro had twice won the New York Film Critics’ Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of his performances in Bang the Drum Slowly and Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets
But no actor’s value is weighed till he is nominated or given an award, becasue of his Italian looks and acting talent he landed the role of the young (originally played by Marlon Brando) Don Corleone in 1976. De Niro received his first Oscar for ’’Best Supporting Actor’’ in the acclaimed The Godfather Part II
The Italian Stallion wasn’t gonna give up so soon, and in 1980 he then won another Oscar for his performance as self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta in Scorsese’s powerful movie Raging Bull.
This movie explains the lengths De Niro goes to get into the skin of his character; in this case, the actor gained 50 pounds to portray LaMotta in his old age
Did you know Ben Kingsley had his teeth removed to do ’’Gandhi’’, even Will Smith put on pounds and muscle to do Ali.
The main role in The Last Temptation of Christ was also offered to RDN but he declined the offer, as it was an Anti-Christ movie and he would not sell his soul for money and wrongly portray Christ.
Godsend is his latest offering, I haven’t seen it yet coz it didn’t really look too promising.
Worst movie I think De Niro made was Flawless (1999) it was extremely boring about drag queens and she-males.
Wag the Dog was a good performance by RDN and it was challenging to see Hoffman and him together but I didn’t quite enjoy it coz it was to do with American politics and sexual harrasement cover-up.
Among the movies I love of Rober De Niro are:
-GODFATHER- He plays the younger Marlon Brando in the film and he acts so well. Ocassionally when i’m in mood, after every 2-3 months i’ll watch all three parts over a 1 week period. What a classic movie, but Al Pacino excels !
My favourite movie- why? Coz its got Al Pacino and RND in it !!
-RONIN
RND, the car chases, the background music- what a combo!
-SLEEPERS
As father Bobby, he is a priest and a guide and a friend to the 4 boys in the film.
THE UNTOUCHABLES
RDN portrays the all time American gangster-Al Capone, I haven’t seen this in years but now that i’m writing the review I must
get this DVD in my collection !
De Niro and director Scorsese. Together they have made 8 films, Scorsese and RND make a great team and over the years they
have delivered some great flicks:
Mean Streets
Taxi Driver
New York, New York
Raging Bull
The King of Comedy
Goodfellas
Cape Fear
Casino
MOVIES OF RDN (only those I like, not complete filmography, there are many old one’s that I haven’t seen)
COMEDY
Analyse this
Analyse that
Meet the parents
Some of his notable movies:
Ronin (1998)
Wag the Dog (1997)
Sleepers (1996)
Fan, The (1996)
Casino (1995)
Men of Honor (2000)
Heat (1995) ....
Cape Fear (1991)
Untouchables, The (1987)
Raging Bull (1980)
Goodfellas (1990)
AWARDS
De Niro has won many awards and nominated for plenty, among the notabale ones:
1981 Academy Awards: Best Actor for Raging Bull
1981 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for Raging Bull
1975 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, Part II
FACTS
-RDN did an aggressive pursuit of Whitney Houston when she was a young and upcoming star by sending her flowers and gifts to persuade her to co-star in a remake of the 1955 film LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME.
-De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Howard Stern, Donald Trump and Tommy Mottola, are among licensed to carry a loaded weapon, according to the NYPD’s 2003 records.
-Joseph Manuella impersonated Robert De Niro many times and has been arrested.
-Tribeca Film Festival, is founded by De Niro
-Both De Niro & Sean Penn, who co-starred in 1989’s WE’RE NO ANGELS, happen to share the same birthday, August 17.
-He co-owns several restaurants in New York including Nobu and Layla.
-He and Marlon Brando are the only two actors to win an Oscar for playing the same character of Don Corleone.
- He insisted on wearing the same style of silk underwear that Al Capone wore, even though it would never be seen on camera. The producers, knowing DeNiro’s famed reputation gave in. (THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)
-De Niro gained over 50 pounds to play the older La Motta in RAGING BULL.
-De Niro, 61, one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, has appeared in more than 60 movies in his 40 years career.
LATEST NEWS
-Actor Robert De Niro has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), with more than 600, 000 members in the United States, sent a letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urging him to cancel plans to confer citizenship on the actor.
ROME - A bid to give Robert De Niro honorary Italian citizenship has pitted adoring fans in Italy against Italian Americans who say his movie Mafia roles give them a bad name.
He has done nothing to promote Italian culture in the United States. Instead, OSIA and its members hold him and his movies responsible for considerably damaging the collective reputations of both Italians and Italian Americans’’.
De Niro played a mobster in ’’Goodfellas’’ and ’’The Godfather Part II.’’ In ’’Analyze This’’ and ’’Analyze That, ’’ he performed a comedic sendup of the Mafia persona. (https://miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/people/9638746.htm?1c)
-De Niro is attending the Venice Film festival, and 11-day event to promote his voiceover in Shark Tale.