Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, producer, and director. He is particularly known for his work in crime films, thrillers and collaborations with filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Born in Manhattan in New York City, De Niro studied acting at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. His first major onscreen appearance was in Greetings (1968), an early film from director Brian De Palma. He soon gained recognition with his role as a Major League Baseball player in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). His first collaboration with Scorsese was in Mean Streets (1973), co-starring Harvey Keitel, in which he played the small-time criminal Johnny Boy.
Stardom followed soon after with his role as the young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather Part II (1974), with Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire, John Cazale, and Diane Keaton, which won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He recurved Academy Award Nomination did his portrayal of Travis Bickle in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), with Jodie Foster; and a soldier in Michael Cimino‘s Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter (1978), with Christopher Walken, Cazale, and Meryl Streep
In 1980, De Niro portrayed Jake LaMotta in Scorsese’s biographical drama Raging Bull (co-starring Joe Pesci) which won him a second Academy Award, for Best Actor. He diversified into comic roles, such as by playing a stand-up comedian in The King of Comedy (1982), with Jerry Lewis; and gained further recognition for his performances in Sergio Leone’s crime epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Terry Gilliam‘s science fiction dystopian satire Brazil (1985), with Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, and Bob Hoskins; the religious epic The Mission (1986), with Jeremy Irons; the crime drama The Untouchables (1987), with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery; and the comedy Midnight Run (1988), with Charles Grodin.
De Niro entered the 1990s playing gangster Jimmy Conway in the crime film Goodfellas (1990), with Ray Liotta and Pesci; a catatonic patient in the drama Awakenings (1990), with Robin Williams; a cafeteria cook in Martin Ritt‘s Stanley & Iris (1990), with Jane Fonda; and as a criminal in the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1991), with Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis. All three films received praise for De Niro’s performances.
He then starred in This Boy’s Life (1993), with a young Leonardo DiCaprio; and made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale (1993), written by and co-starring Chazz Palminteri. His other critical successes include the Michael Mann‘s crime thriller Heat (1995), which paired him on screen with Al Pacino for the first time; and Scorsese’s gangster film Casino (1995), with Pesci, Sharon Stone and James Woods. He played more comic roles in the films Jackie Brown (1997), starring Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robert Forster; Wag the Dog (1997), with Dustin Hoffman; Analyze This (1999), with Billy Crystal; and Meet the Parents (2000), with Ben Stiller.
After appearing in a series of critically panned and commercially unsuccessful films, he earned another Academy Award nomination for his role in David O. Russell‘s romantic comedy, Silver Linings Playbook (2012), starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. In 2019, De Niro starred in two acclaimed films; the thriller Joker (2019), and Scorsese’s crime epic The Irishman (2019), with Pacino, Pesci, and Keitel.
De Niro and Scorsese have made nine feature films together, and six of De Niro’s films have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” In 1989, De Niro and partner Jane Rosenthal, co-founded TriBeCa Productions, a film production company, and in 2002, he co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965) – directed by Marcel Carné – uncredited
- Encounter (1965) – directed by Norman C. Chaitin
- Young Wolves (1968) – directed by Marcel Carné – uncredited -aka Les jeunes loups
- Greetings (1968) – directed by Brian De Palma
- The Wedding Party (1969) – directed by Brian De Palma, Wilford Leach, & Cynthia Munroe
- Sam’s Song (1969) – directed by Jordan Leondopoulos
- Bloody Mama (1970) – directed by Roger Corman
- Hi, Mom! (1970) – directed by Brian De Palma
- Jennifer on My Mind (1971) – directed by Noel Black
- Born to Win (1971) – directed by Ivan Passer
- The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971) – directed by James Goldstone
- Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) – directed by John D. Hancock
- Mean Streets (1973) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- The Godfather: Part II (1974) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
- Taxi Driver (1976)** – directed by Martin Scorsese
- 1900 (1976) – directed by Bernardo Bertolucci – aka Novecento
- The Last Tycoon (1976) – directed by Elia Kazan
- New York, New York (1977) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- The Deer Hunter (1978) – directed by Michael Cimino
- Raging Bull (1980)** – directed by Martin Scorsese
- True Confessions (1981) – directed by Ulu Grosbard
- The King of Comedy (1983) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – directed by Sergio Leone
- Falling in Love (1984) – directed by Ulu Grosbard
- Brazil (1985) – directed by Terry Gilliam
- Angel Heart (1987) – directed by Alan Parker
- The Untouchables (1987) – directed by Brian De Palma
- Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) – directed by Bill Couturiré – TV movie
- Midnight Run (1988) – directed by Martin Brest
- Jacknife (1989) – directed by David Hugh Jones
- We’re No Angels (1989) – directed by Neil Jordan
- Stanley & Iris (1990) – directed by Martin Ritt
- Goodfellas (1990)** – directed by Martin Scorsese
- Awakenings (1990) – directed by Penny Marshall
- Guilty by Suspicion (1991) – directed by Irwin Winkler
- Backdraft (1991) – directed by Ron Howard
- Cape Fear (1991) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- Mistress (1992) – directed by Barry Primus
- Night and the City (1992) – directed by Irwin Winkler
- Mad Dog and Glory (1993) – directed by John McNaughton
- This Boy’s Life (1993) – directed by Michael Canton-Jones
- A Bronx Tale (1993) – also director
- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
- One Hundred and One Nights – directed by Agnès Varda -aka La cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma
- Casino (1995) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- Heat (1995) – directed by Michael Mann
- The Fan (1996) – directed by Tony Scott
- Sleepers (1996) – directed by Barry Levinson
- Marvin’s Room (1996) – directs by Jerry Zaks
- Cop Land (1997) – directed by James Mangold
- Jackie Brown (1997)** – directed by Quentin Tarantino
- Wag the Dog (1997) – directed by Barry Levinson
- Great Expectations (1998) – directed by Alfonso Cuarón
- Ronin (1998) – directed by John Frankenheimer
- Analyze This (1999) – directed by Harold Ramis
- Flawless (1999) – directed by Joel Schumacher
- The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) – directed by Des McAnuff
- Men of Honor (2000) – directed by George Tillman Jr.
- Meet the Parents (2000) – directed by Jay Roach
- 15 Minutes (2001) – directed by John Herzfeld
- The Score (2001) – directed by Frank Oz
- Showtime (2001) – directed by Tom Dey
- City by the Sea (2002) – directed by Michael Canton-Jones
- Analyze That (2002) – directed by Harold Ramis
- Godsend (2004) – directed by Nick Hamm
- Shark Tale (2004) – directed by Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, & Rob Letterman
- Meet the Fockers (2004) – directed by Jay Roach
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004) – directed by Mary McGuckian
- Hide and Seek (2005) – directed by John Polson
- Arthur and the Invisibles (2005) – directed by Luc Besson – aka Arthur et les Minimoys
- The Good Shepherd (2005) – also director
- Vanity Fair: Killers Kill, Dead Men Die (2007) – directed by Annie Annie Leibovitz
- Stardust (2007)* – directed by Matthew Vaughn
- What Just Happened (2008) – directed by Barry Levinson
- Righteous Kill (2008) – directed by Jon Avnet
- Everybody’s Fine (2009) – directs by Kirk Jones
- Machete (2010)* – directed by Robert Rodriguez & Ethan Maniquis
- Stone (2010) – directed by John Curran
- Little Fockers (2010) – directed by Paul Weitz
- The Ages of Love (2011) – directed by Giovanni Veronesi – aka Manuale d’am3re
- Limitless (2011) – directed by Neil Burger
- Killer Elite (2011) – directed by Gary McKendry
- New Year’s Eve (2011) – directed by Garry Marshall
- Red Lights (2012) – directed by Rodrigo Cortés
- Being Flynn (2012) – directed by Paul Weitz
- Freelancers (2012) – directed by Jessy Terrero
- Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – directed by David O. Russell
- The Big Wedding (2013) – directed by Justin Zackham
- Killing Season (2013) – directed by Mark Steven Johnson
- The Family (2013) – directed by Luc Besson
- Last Vegas (2013) – directed by Jon Turtletaub
- American Hustle (2013) – directed by David O. Russell – uncredited
- Grudge Match (2013) – directed by Peter Segal
- The Bag Man (2014) – directed by David Grovic
- The Intern (2015) – directed by Nancy Meyers
- The Audition (2015) – directed by Martin Scorsese – short
- Ellis (2015) – directed by JR- short
- Heist (2015) – directed by Scott Mann
- Joy (2015) – directed by David O. Russell
- Dirty Grandpa (2016) – directed by Dan Mazer
- Hands of Stone (2016) – directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz
- The Comedian (2016) – directed by Taylor Hackford
- The Wizard of Lies (2017) – directed by Barry Levinson – TV movie
- Joker (2019) – directed by Todd Philips
- The Irishman (2019) – directed by Martin Scorsese
I Review Stuff 