De Niro portrayed gangster Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas (1990), a catatonic patient in the drama Awakenings (1990), and a criminal in the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1991). He soon thereafter diversified to other roles, playing a stand-up comic in The King of Comedy (1982), and gained further recognition for his performances in Bernardo Bertolucci's epic 1900 (1976), Sergio Leone's crime epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Terry Gilliam's dystopian satire Brazil (1985), the religious epic The Mission (1986), and the comedy Midnight Run (1988). For his portrayal of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), and a soldier in the Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter (1978), he earned two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.ĭe Niro won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of world middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta in Scorsese's biographical drama Raging Bull (1980), his first Oscar in this category. Stardom followed with his role as young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's crime epic The Godfather Part II (1974), which won De Niro the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. De Niro's first collaboration with Scorsese was Mean Streets (1973), where he played small-time NYC crook 'Johnny Boy'. His first major role was in Greetings (1968), and he gained early recognition with his role as a baseball player in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). President Barack Obama in 2016.īorn in Manhattan in New York City, De Niro studied acting at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. In 2009, De Niro received the Kennedy Center Honor, and received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S.

DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

He is particularly known for his nine collaborations with filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. ( / d ə ˈ n ɪər oʊ/ də NEER-oh, Italian: born August 17, 1943) is an American actor and producer.

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