Robert De Niro Wiki, Bio, Age, Net Worth, and Other Facts

Robert De Niro Wiki, Bio, Age, Net Worth, and Other Facts

Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Robert De Niro. Check it out!

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 Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Mean Streets (1973), which was his first film with director Martin Scorsese. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather: Part II (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978) and Cape Fear (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980).

Interesting Facts about Robert De Niro

  • President of the jury at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
  • He was considered for the role of Harry Line in Home Alone (1990), which went to his good friend Joe Pesci.
  • He was offered the role of Dick Tracy in Dick Tracy (1990), which went to Warren Beatty.
  • Cites actor Alec Baldwin’s De Niro impressions as his favorites.
  • Both of his Oscar-winning performances involved Marlon Brando. His first Oscar, for Best Supporting Actor, had him playing the younger version of Brando’s character Vito Corleone. His second, for Best Actor in Raging Bull (1980), he recited Brando’s famous lines from On the Waterfront (1954).
  • First performer to receive an Academy Award (for The Godfather: Part II (1974)) for a performance in a sequel.
  • He was voted as the best actor of all time at FilmFour.com (2002).
  • He won an Oscar for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), making him one of 18 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other seventeen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in All the President’s Men (1976), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)_, Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Jennifer Connelly for playing Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010), Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), and Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014).
  • When he was a child, he was an avid reader of playwrights.
  • Unlike Marlon Brando, who preceded him as Don Vito Corleone, he actually has Italian ancestry in his background. He and Brando both have Dutch ancestry.
  • This was tricky to make him look huge as Frankenstein’s monster in Frankenstein (1994) , considering that Kenneth Branagh, who played Dr. Frankenstein, is of similar height. Many of the tricks used to make humans, wizards and elves dwarf the hobbits later on for the Lord of the Rings trilogy were also employed to make De Niro appear much bigger than his co-stars, including using very large men as body doubles for shots where only the hands and feet are seen.
  • His performance as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) is ranked #42 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Personal Quotes by Robert De Niro

The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you.

Robert De Niro

I don’t like to watch my own movies – I fall asleep in my own movies.

Robert De Niro

The talent is in the choices.

Robert De Niro

When I was 15, 16, I studied with Stella Adler at the Conservatory of Acting, then I stopped again and went to the Actors Studio when I was 18.

Robert De Niro

It’s important not to indicate. People don’t try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.

Robert De Niro