Portrait · Georges Biard / CC BY-SA 3.0

Robert De Niro

Actor, director and producer

Born 1943

Robert De Niro is an American actor, director and producer born in New York City, whose career reaches from independent films to crime dramas and comedy. Raised in an artistic family, he grew up in Greenwich Village with his mother, painter Virginia Admiral, and has preserved the studio of his father, Robert De Niro Sr. His early acting education included the Dramatic Workshop, Stella Adler and the Actors Studio, grounding a career built on detailed observation and character preparation. Mean Streets began his enduring collaboration with Martin Scorsese, followed by Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas and Casino. Playing the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II earned him the supporting-actor Academy Award. His portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull brought the leading-actor Oscar. His range also includes The Deer Hunter, Midnight Run, Heat, Analyze This, Meet the Parents and Silver Linings Playbook. He moved behind the camera for A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd while continuing to act in both films. With Jane Rosenthal, he developed Tribeca Productions and helped establish the Tribeca Festival to renew cultural life in Lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attacks. He starred as former president George Mullen and executive produced the Netflix limited series Zero Day in 2025. In The Whisper Man, he plays a retired detective drawn into a family crisis and a renewed investigation. Focker-In-Law is scheduled for November 2026, returning him to the Meet the Parents franchise. Cannes honoured his career with an honorary Palme d’Or in May 2025.

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