Robert De Niro
(1943 - )
Biography from Baseline
Actor,Director
August 17, 1943, New York, NY

One of the most gifted actors of the post-Brando generation and often regarded as Brando's heir, Robert De Niro combines the qualities of exceptional movie actors—danger, unpredictability, magnetism—with a distinctive touch of nihilism. The son of abstract expressionist artist Robert De Niro and painter Virginia Admiral, he studied drama with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg and appeared in several off-Broadway productions early in his career. Robert De Niro's first screen appearances came in films directed by Brian De Palma; his roles in GREETINGS (1968), THE WEDDING PARTY (1969) and HI, MOM! (1970) displayed signs of the defiance and irreverence which typified his later work. Other glimpses of what would become signature Robert De Niro characteristics were visible in his portrayals of a moody, drug-addicted criminal in BLOODY MAMA (1970) and a charmingly roguish small-time thief in THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT (1971).
De Niro was riveting as a slow-witted, dying baseball player in BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (1973). Many critics, however, date his breakthrough to his small gem of a performance in Martin Scorsese's MEAN STREETS (1973), as the irresponsible—and irrepressible—Johnny Boy. In THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), De Niro faced the challenge of depicting a young version of one of cinema's most familiar characters—Don Vito Corleone, originally played by Marlon Brando. De Niro's performance, which won him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, was a masterpiece of nuanced gestures, glances and speech patterns that captured the pride and inner reserve of Brando's mature GODFATHER. An equally astonishing portrayal was his enigmatic steelworker-turned-Green Beret in Michael Cimino's THE DEER HUNTER (1978), a compelling central performance that held the entire film together.
The De Niro-Scorsese collaboration has produced some of modern American cinema's most memorable performances— the deranged Travis Bickle in TAXI DRIVER (1976), the jazz saxophonist Jimmy Doyle in NEW YORK, NEW YORK (1977), the boxer Jake La Motta in RAGING BULL, (1980, a tour de force which won him a Best Actor Oscar), the frustrated comic Rupert Pupkin in THE KING OF COMEDY (1983) and the small-time mobster Jimmy Conway in GOODFELLAS (1990). Remarkably, Robert De Niro recorded the reprehensible qualities of these characters without losing sight of their humanity. Travis Bickle's crazed in-the-mirror monologue ("You talkin' to me?"), so chilling because it is so recognizably human, became a touchstone of modern technique.
De Niro is at his best when he can suggest a man on the edge, struggling with his demons, as he did with the obsessed but kindhearted bounty hunter in MIDNIGHT RUN (1988) and the caring but mercurial Vietnam veteran in JACKNIFE (1989). Just the suggestion of this struggle made his loony rebel cameo in BRAZIL (1985) memorable and has allowed him to create effective characters in films that were otherwise less than entirely successful: the ambitious monsignor in TRUE CONFESSIONS (1981); the reflective gangster in ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984); and the militant Jesuit priest in THE MISSION (1986). His attempts at playing unambiguously evil characters (ANGEL HEART and THE UNTOUCHABLES both 1987) have been less fruitful, as have his portrayals of passive figures (THE LAST TYCOON and 1900 both 1976, FALLING IN LOVE, 1984, STANLEY & IRIS, 1990, MAD DOG AND GLORY, 1993).
De Niro has become less selective in his recent film roles, reportedly in an effort to finance his own film and TV projects. He contributed little that was new or revealing to Penny Marshall's AWAKENINGS (1990) and barely broke a sweat for Ron Howard's BACKDRAFT (1991). Even his seventh collaboration with Scorsese, CAPE FEAR (1991), was a marked step down. Improbably combining disparate elements of two celebrated Robert Mitchum performances (in the original CAPE FEAR 1962 and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, 1955), De Niro created a Max Cady who was more monster than man. His increasingly bizarre and malicious antics as he bedevils the family of Nick Nolte seemed more appropriate for a Brian De Palma black comedy or Carpenter potboiler than a work by a leading "serious" filmmaker. Nonetheless De Niro's name continued to signify "Quality" to many reviewers and audiences. However, De Niro's notoriety has rarely translated into box-office success for his non-Scorsese-directed vehicles.
Although the early 90s proved a rocky period for De Niro's acting career, he appeared in a series of films that made little impact with the press or public. This period, however, marked the first flowering of his efforts as a filmmaker. De Niro enhanced his reputation as a champion of New York film production with his Tribeca Film Center, where his own Tribeca Films company was housed, which became a hub of the city's nascent resurgent production community. In 1992, he produced actor Barry Primus' low-budget directorial debut, MISTRESS, as well as the more ambitious THUNDERHEART. The former, in which De Niro portrayed an urbane film financier, was largely dismissed as a poor man's version of THE PLAYER while the latter, in which De Niro did not appear, was a rather well-received fact-inspired story of a Native American FBI agent grappling with questions of identity while working on a culturally sensitive case.
De Niro segued into TV production as the executive producer of "Tribeca" (Fox, 1993), a short-lived dramatic anthology series set and shot on the streets of downtown NYC. He employed the talents of several actors turned directors— Barry Primus, Melanie Mayron and Joe Morton— to helm some episodes.
De Niro made his own feature directorial debut with A BRONX TALE (1993) on which he also served as producer and co-star. Adapted and expanded from a one-man show by actor-writer Chazz Palminteri, the film was set in the Italian-American community of the Bronx in the 60s. Palminteri won notice for his central portrayal of a flashy neighborhood gangster while De Niro uncharacteristically played the less flamboyant role of a honest laborer. Despite a troubled and extended production, the film earned respectful reviews if tepid box-office receipts.
De Niro had appeared in films produced by Irwin Winkler as far back as 1971's THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT, so it seemed natural for De Niro to star in Winkler's feature debut as a writer-director, GUILTY BY SUSPICION (1991). This overly familiar tale of the Hollywood Blacklist was mediocre in execution, and De Niro failed to rise above it with his portrayal of a hotshot director. Tribeca produced Winkler's next directorial outing, an adequate updating of the 1950 film noir classic NIGHT AND THE CITY (1992). De Niro starred as Harry Fabian, a frenetic ambulance-chasing lawyer who attempts to make a score as a boxing promoter. He received generally positive notices but some reviewers found him too old for the part and thought that he and female lead Jessica Lange lacked chemistry.
The romantic comedy-drama MAD DOG AND GLORY (1993) offered a change of pace as De Niro played a nebbishy crime scene photographer for the Chicago Police Department who saves the life of an exuberant and stylish gangster (Bill Murray). The urbane thug shows his appreciation by lending him a lovely bartender from his club (Uma Thurman) for a week. Of course, the pair fall in love. This role marked a rare instance in which De Niro was effective as a sympathetic romantic partner. His performance in THIS BOY'S LIFE (also 1993) returned to more familiar psychological territory—albeit with a rustic twist. As Dwight Hansen, the dreaded stepfather of the young Toby Wolff (Leonardo DiCaprio), De Niro effectively segued from an eccentric rube to a terrifying authoritarian. However, young DiCaprio won the film's best notices.
After the commercial disappointment of A BRONX TALE, De Niro tried his hand at headlining what must have appeared to be a commercial project at the time, MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN (1994). The press buzzed about what interpretation the esteemed Method actor would bring to the cinema's most famous creature. De Niro proved effective as an articulate and sympathetic monster but the film was slammed for director Kenneth Branagh's over-the-top operatic pretensions and died at the box office. A reteaming with Martin Scorsese and RAGING BULL co-star Joe Pesci for CASINO (1995), a violent tale of gangsters in 1960s Las Vegas, offered the opportunity for a return to form. De Niro commanded the screen with his portrayal of a transplanted Chicago bookie who experiences both his greatest success and failure in that fabled city in the desert. De Niro wrapped up 1995 starring opposite Al Pacino— the first onscreen pairing of this powerhouse duo who were both featured in Francis Ford Coppola's classic sequel, THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), but never in the same scene— in Michael Mann's highly stylized crime drama HEAT. Here De Niro was a hardened career criminal pursued by Pacino's driven police detective.

Robert De Niro
(1943 - )
Filmography

1968 GREETINGS performer
1969 SAM'S SONG/THE SWAP performer
1969 THE WEDDING PARTY performer
1970 BLOODY MAMA performer
1970 HI, MOM!/CONFESSIONS OF A PEEPING JOHN/BLUE MANHATTAN performer
1971 BORN TO WIN/ADDICT performer
1971 THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT performer
1971 JENNIFER ON MY MIND performer
1973 BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY performer
1973 MEAN STREETS performer
1974 THE GODFATHER PART II performer
1976 THE LAST TYCOON performer
1976 TAXI DRIVER performer
1977 1900/NOVECENTO performer
1977 NEW YORK, NEW YORK performer
1978 THE DEER HUNTER performer
1979 THE SWAP performer
1980 RAGING BULL performer
1981 ACTING: LEE STRASBERG AND THE ACTORS STUDIO performer
1981 TRUE CONFESSIONS performer
1983 THE KING OF COMEDY performer
1984 FALLING IN LOVE performer
1984 ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA performer
1985 BRAZIL performer
1986 THE MISSION performer
1987 ANGEL HEART performer
1987 DEAR AMERICA: LETTERS HOME FROM VIET NAM performer
1987 HELLO ACTORS STUDIO performer
1987 THE UNTOUCHABLES performer
1988 MIDNIGHT RUN performer
1989 JACKNIFE performer
1989 WE'RE NO ANGELS executive producer, performer
1990 AWAKENINGS performer
1990 GOODFELLAS performer
1990 HOLLYWOOD MAVERICKS performer
1990 STANLEY & IRIS performer
1991 BACKDRAFT performer
1991 CAPE FEAR performer
1991 GUILTY BY SUSPICION performer
1992 MISTRESS producer, performer
1992 NIGHT AND THE CITY performer
1992 THUNDERHEART producer
1993 A BRONX TALE producer, director, performer
1993 MAD DOG AND GLORY performer
1993 THIS BOY'S LIFE performer
1994 MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN/FRANKENSTEIN associate producer
1995 CASINO performer
1995 HEAT performer
1996 FAITHFUL co-producer
Robert De Niro
(1943 - )
Academy Awards®

© A.M.P.A.S.®
Supporting Actor 1974: THE GODFATHER PART II
Nominated for Actor 1976: TAXI DRIVER
Nominated for Actor 1978: THE DEER HUNTER
Actor 1980: RAGING BULL
Nominated for Actor 1990: AWAKENINGS
Nominated for Actor 1991: CAPE FEAR