Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro is one of the top veteran Hollywood actors who has starred in over 100 movies from the American film industry. Apart from being renowned for his impressive action roles, Robert De Niro is also an acclaimed producer and filmmaker also. Robert De Niro has won several prestigious awards for his impressive acting skills and had numerous honors too. Besides Hollywood, Robert De Niro is also active as an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector with the Nobu Hospitality company. To know more about his life and profile, read on.

Who are the parents of Robert De Niro?

Recalling his early life, Robert De Niro was born to Robert De Niro, Sr. and Virginia Holton Admiral in Greenwich Village, New York City. His father was an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor, AND his mother was a poet and painter by profession. His parents separated when he was three years old, and he was thereafter taken care of by his mother. However, his father remained in contact with young Niro and played an influential role in his upbringing.

Regarding his education, He attained his preliminary education from PS 41, Elisabeth Irwin High School, and Little Red School House. Later, He enrolled at McBurney School for completing high school studies but later switched to Rhodes Preparatory School. However, he dropped out of both of them and started to pursue a career in acting. He took up an acting course at Stella Adler Conservatory and later at Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio.

When did Robert De Niro pursue his acting career?

• Talking about his career as an actor kick-started in 1963, when he bagged a small role opposite Jill Clayburgh for the movie, ‘The Wedding Party’. The film, however, hit the theatres only in 1969.
• He did a couple of cameo appearances for the movies, including the French film, ‘Three Rooms in Manhattan’, which technically became his debut movie, and ‘Les Jeunes Loups’. His first film as a lead actor was ‘Greetings’, released in 1968.
• The year 1973 can be marked as a breakthrough year for this budding star. Two of his movies ‘Bang The Drum Slowly’ and ‘Mean Streets’ were released this year and his performance in both the movies was highly appreciated and applauded. While ‘Bang The Drum Slowly’ had him playing the role of a terminally ill baseball player with perfection, ‘Mean Streets’ exposed his excellence overplaying the character of Johnny Boy, a small-time crook.
• The year 1974 only catapulted his position as the finest actor in the industry with the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather Part II’. His role-playing of the character of Vito Corleone won him the prestigious Academy Award.
• Following the success of ‘Mean Streets’, he developed a strong bond with director Martin Scorsese who cast De Niro in many of his successful subsequent ventures. ‘Taxi Driver’ was one such film from the Niro-Scorsese camp, released in 1976. His impressive performance and remarkable dialogue delivery skills earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
• Other releases of 1976 include Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘1900’, which was an epic biographical exploration of life in Italy before World War II,’ and Elia Kazan’s ‘The Last Tycoon’. Though the movies did only fair well at the box office, his acting was praised by the audience and the critics alike.
• The start of the decade of the 1980s brought good news for him. He played the character of Jake La Motta for the Scorsese film, ‘Raging Bull’. The film was poorly received at the box office but was applauded by the critics. His effective role-play won him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
• With an aim to try new genres and not be typecast as a mob hero, he expanded his artistic horizons and was seen tickling the rib of the audience with his accurate comic timing in the movies, ‘The King of Comedy’, ‘Brazil’ and ‘Midnight Run’
• The decade of the 1990s began on a good note for this talented actor as his film, ‘Goodfellas’ (1990), did exceptionally well at the box office. Three years later, he donned the hat of a director with his debut directorial venture titled, ‘A Bronx Tale’. He ended the decade with ‘Analyze This’ (1999), a film which made a hilarious spoof on mob movies.
• Keeping the laughter therapy on, in 2000, he came up with his next movie, “Meet the Parents’ cast opposite Ben Stiller. The film met with an overwhelming response which spawned its sequels, ‘Meet the Fockers’ and ‘Little Fockers’. Interestingly, the sequels also did good business commercially and were a hit.
• In 2002, he reprised his role of Paul Vitti in the 1999 comedy, ‘Analyze This’ with its sequel, ‘Analyze That’. The same year, he also hosted a show on CBS titled, ‘9/11’ which was a documentary about the September 11, 2001 attacks.
• In 2004, he gave a voice-over for the character of Don Limo in the animated film, ‘Shark Tale’. This was his first experience with voice acting.
• Two years later, in 2006, he donned the director’s cap for the second time in the spy thriller ‘The Good Shepherd’. He was part of the star cast that included Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie.
• In 2010, Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis’s directorial venture, ‘Machete’ saw him play the character of Senator John McLaughlin in this action-packed film. The same year, he was seen in the thriller movie, ‘Stone’ alongside Edward Norton and Milla Jovovich.
• In 2011, De Niro displayed his versatility by acting in films of different genres. While his first release was an action film ‘Killer Elite’, the second was a film adaptation of the novel ‘The Dark Fields’, titled, ‘Limitless’. He ended the year with a Garry Marshall’s romantic-comedy ‘New Year’s Eve’.
• Showing no signs of taking it slow, in 2012, he delivered a power-packed performance for the movie ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, for which he won an Academy Award nomination. He also appeared in movies such as ‘Freelancers’, ‘Red Lights’ and ‘Being Flynn’.
• In 2013, he starred in the movies, ‘The Big Wedding’, ‘Killing Season’ and ‘The Family. Some of his movies scheduled to release in 2013 and the following year include, ‘Last Vegas’, ‘American Hustle’, ‘Grudge Match’, ‘Motel’, ‘Hands of Stone’ and ‘The Irishman’.
• In July 2018, it was announced that De Niro would appear in Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker, an original story based on the Batman comic book supervillain The Joker, who will be played by Joaquin Phoenix.

What are the achievements of Robert De Niro?

• He has been nominated seven times for the prestigious Academy Awards, twice in the category of Best Supporting Actor and five times for Best Actor. He twice won the award, Best Supporting Actor for ‘The Godfather Part II’ and Best Actor for ‘Raging Bull’.
• He has been nominated six times for BAFTA Awards, once in the category of Best Newcomer and five times in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role.
• He has been nominated eight times for the Golden Globe Awards in various categories such as Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He won the award for his spellbinding performance in ‘Ranging Bull’ in the category of Best Actor, Motion Picture Drama.
• In 2011, he was conferred with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award, Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement Award for his exemplary artistic skills and exceptional talent.

Who is Robert De Niro married to?

Reflecting on his personal life, Robert has been married twice in his life. He got married to his first wife Diahnne Abbot, an American actress and singer. He adopted her daughter Drena who she had from a previous marriage. The couple union lasted for only 12 years but before then, they had a son named Raphel De Niro. Robert and Diahnne went their separate ways in 1988.

From 1988 to 1996, He was in a relationship with Toukie Smith, a model, and actress. About seven years down the line, the couple decided to make babies together but Toukie was not to carry them. Conception took place by in vitro fertilization and on October 20, 1995, they welcomed a set of twin boys through a surrogate mother. The boys were named Aaron Kendrick De Niro and Julian Henry De Niro.

In 1997, the actor met another lady named Grace Hightower. They started dating and subsequently tied the knot the same year. In 1998, Grace gave birth to their first child, a son named Elliott. Trouble began in paradise and he filed for divorce in 1999. In 2001, he also sued his estranged wife for custody of their son. However, in a pleasant turn of events, the couple decided to iron out their differences and by 2004 the divorce was dropped and they continued as husband and wife, having renewed their marital vows.  Their relationship grew stronger, leading to the birth of the second child, Helen Grace De Niro, who was delivered by a surrogate mother in December 2011.

Rebert has a total of 6 children. Two from his first wife, twin boys from his longtime girlfriend, and another two from his second wife. On March 25, 2016, He announced that his fifth son, Elliot was a special needs child as he suffers from autism. He made this known during an interview with Katie Couric while discussing Silver Linings Playbook which was written by movie director David O. Russel for his son with bipolar disorder.

What Is Robert De Niro Net Worth?

Throughout his successful multiple careers, Robert assumed a lot of money. As per various online resources, His estimated net worth said to be $300 million at present. However, his salary is yet to be revealed.

How tall is Robert De Niro?

Observing his body statistics, Robert stands a height of 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs around 75 kg. He has dark brown eyes and salt and pepper hair color. His body measures 43-32-15 inches including chest, waist, and bicep sizes.