Actor, director, producer. Born Robert De Niro Jr., on August 17, 1943, in New York City. His parents, both artists, separated when he was two years old; De Niro lived mostly with his mother, who started a typesetting and printing business. While attending high school in New York, De Niro began taking drama classes. He studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory as a teenager, dropping out of high school at age 16 to act professionally and continue his studies at the prestigious Actors Studio. He later studied with noted acting teachers Luther James and Lee Strasberg.
De Niro made his feature film acting debut in 1966, appearing in Brian De Palma’s The Wedding Party (which wasn’t released until 1969). His first released feature, 1968’s Greetings, was also directed by De Palma. In Greetings, De Niro starred as a young man who goes off to fight in Vietnam, a role he later reprised in the 1970 sequel, Hi Mom!.

Though De Niro was featured prominently in all of his early films, it was not until his ninth feature, the emotional baseball film Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), that he received a considerable measure of recognition. The release of Mean Streets later that same year marked De Niro’s true ascendance into the ranks of America’s most acclaimed young actors. The film marked his first collaboration with the up-and-coming director Martin Scorsese, a boyhood acquaintance who would become one of De Niro’s most important professional allies.

In 1974, De Niro won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in director Francis Ford Coppola’s sequel, The Godfather: Part II, based on the novel by Mario Puzo. In preparation for his portrayal of the young Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando’s character in 1972’s The Godfather), De Niro dedicated himself to learning a Sicilian dialect, as he spoke only eight words in English during the film. The Godfather: Part II co-starred Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Robert Duvall; it also won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

De Niro reteamed with Scorsese in 1976 for Taxi Driver, a bleak, violent film in which the actor portrayed the deranged cabbie Travis Bickle, who becomes obsessed with protecting a teenage prostitute, played by Jodie Foster. De Niro’s intense performance garnered him a Best Actor Academy Award nomination.