American actor, director and businessman, the winner of two Oscar awards for Best Supporting Actor in “The Godfather, Part Two,” 1974 and in 1980 as Best Actor in “Raging Bull.”
His parents were painters raising their only child in a second-floor Bleecker Street apartment in Greenwich Village. His father, Robert Sr., and mother, Virginia introduced their son to artists, poets, and writers. They separated when De Niro was two years old. His mother took a job as a copywriter to support her son. As a young boy, the mostly Irish De Niro played with kids from the nearby Little Italy neighborhood. The tough guys in the neighborhood caught his attention. He could not wait to grow up and imitate these men. He spent time at the community’s social club and listened to music on the jukebox. At ten, he set his sights on acting and at 16 he dropped out of school. He appeared on some Off-Off Broadway plays, then made his on-screen debut in 1968 in an underground film, “Greetings.” He received favorable reviews as a southern baseball player in “Bang the Drum Slowly.”
In 1973, De Niro began to gain critical and popular success with strong dynamic roles. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as the youthful Don Corleone in “The Godfather, Part Two,” 1974. His psychopathic cab driver in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” 1976 electrified the American film-going audience. He continued to transform his image by gaining weight to play boxer Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull” in 1980, winning the Oscar for Best Actor. He continued to polish his craft in “GoodFellas,” “Awakenings,” “Cape Fear” and “Casino.”
In 1993, he tried his skills on directing the movie, “A Bronx Tale” to favorable critical reviews. In 1988 he established Tribeca Film Center in downtown Manhattan and opened the trendy restaurant Tribeca Grill with business partner, Jane Rosenthal. On 3/9/1991, De Niro was honored by his acting peers at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
De Niro is an intensely private man with a boyish look. He gives few interviews to the American media and prefers to be left alone in his neighborhood, the area known as the ‘Triangle below Canal Street.’ He has lived in the Tribeca district after discovering the area while filming “Raging Bull.”
His first marriage was to actress Diahanne Abbott in 1976. They adopted two kids, Drena and Raphael but divorced in 1988. He started a long-term relationship with model and restaurateur Toukie Smith that ended in the early 1990s after nearly a decade. They had twin sons by a surrogate mother 10/20/1995 whom they will share parenting responsibilities.
He continued an on-again-off-again romance with beautiful African-American model, Grace Hightower for several years. They married on 6/17/1997 in New York and their son was born on 3/18/1998. This relationship ended when he filed for divorce August 1999. In March 2000, they signed an agreement for financial support and child custody with De Niro allotted thrice-weekly visits to their son, Elliot. The couple continued to see each other in activities centered around the boy but deteriorated by June 2001 with mutual allegations of violence and drug use.
When he is working, De Niro is known by colleagues as a perfectionist. He meticulously researches his film roles and avidly jots down notes on the smallest of details. His private life becomes a contest with New York paparazzi who stalk him. On one occasion, after leaving Manhattan’s Bowery Bar, 10/7/1995 at 1:30 A.M., De Niro demanded the videotape in photographer Joseph Ligier’s video camera. The two got into a scuffle and De Niro was charged in a misdemeanor assault charge. It was later dropped but the photographers continue to focus their cameras on De Niro’s private life.
On October 21, 2003, the actor announced that he has received a diagnosis of prostate cancer and is undergoing treatment. His prognosis is excellent, according to his representative, and filming of his latest project, “Hide and Seek,” was delayed by 10 weeks.
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