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For almost six decades, there hasn't been a great movie that Robert De Niro hasn't starred in! From his more serious mafia-orientated roles to his outstanding comedies, Robert has proved to himself time and time again that he will always have what it takes to make it in Hollywood! Let's take a look at where his success all began...
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Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City. At the early age of two, his parents both filed for divorce after his father, Robert De Niro Sr. came out as gay. Nevertheless, his father remained an important part of his life even in his later years. Robert attended several different schools as a child, both public and private, before eventually dropping out to pursue acting at the age of 16.
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One of his first roles was in in Brian de Palma's movie 'The Wedding Party' (1969) which he played at the age of 20. Even though the movie was filmed in 1963, it took 6 years for it to be officially released.
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Robert De Niro ended up winning his first Oscar for best-supporting actor for playing the role of the young "Vito Corleone". After seeing the movie hundreds of times, it's hard to think that anybody else could ever play the role! Thank goodness Francis Ford Coppola saw his talent during De Niro's audition for the first installment of the trilogy...
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Throughout the late 70's and early 80's, De Niro's fame would only grow! Robert became famous for his role in 'Taxi Driver' (1976) where played the role of "Travis Bickle". We will always remember his infamous "You talkin' to me?" monologue, which De Niro largely improvised.
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Another very compelling De Niro role was in 'The Deer Hunter' (1978) where he was nominated for an Oscar for best leading role. At the time, Robert felt he was being type casted as a "mobster" so, in order to reach a wider audience, he decided to try his hand at other genres including comedy.
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One of Robert's most memorable comedies was 'Meet the Parents' (1999). In this early 2000's classic, Robert takes on the role of "Jack Byrnes", "Greg Focker's" future father-in-law. This movie went on to spawn two different sequels: 'Meet The Fockers' (2003) and 'Little Fockers' (2010). All three movies were box-office hits!
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Robert De Niro had his directorial debut in 'A Bronx Tale' (1993). Only four years later, he was awarded an Honorable Prize at Moscow's 20th Annual International Film Festival.
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Fellow actor and long time friend Al Pacino was able to star alongside De Niro in the police action thriller 'Heat' (1995). If you haven't seen their diner dialogue scene, we can't consider you to be a true De Niro fan...
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Robert De Niro's second directing job was in the 2006 spy movie The Good Shepherd. He himself was able to star alongside Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Alec Baldwin. Definitely a great watch!
If there's anybody who knows how to play a mafia boss, it's Robert De Niro! Heat, Goodfellas, The Godfather Part II... he's the one who always does it the best! Let's take a look back at some of the earlier moments in his career in order to understand this legendary actor's rise to fame.
Enjoy!