Robert De Niro

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 English, Dutch, German, French and Irish. He was trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop. De Niro first gained fame for his role in Le dernier match (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Mean streets – les rues chaudes (1973), which was his first film with director Martin Scorsese. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Le parrain, 2ème partie (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in Taxi Driver (1976), Voyage au bout de l’enfer (1978) and Les nerfs à vif (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980).

De Niro has earned four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for his work in New York, New York (1977), opposite Liza Minnelli, Midnight Run (1988), Mafia blues (1999) and Mon beau-père et moi (2000). Other notable performances include Brazil (1985), Les incorruptibles (1987), Backdraft (1991), Frankenstein (1994), Heat (1995), Casino (1995) and Jackie Brown (1997). At the same time, he also directed and starred in such films as Il était une fois le Bronx (1993) and Raisons d’état (2006). De Niro has also received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010.