Who can forget his sadistic Max Cady character in Cape Fear smoking a fat cigar in the middle of a movie theater, cackling away without a care in the world. He has directed two films ( A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd) and he has amassed an enviable portfolio of businesses, including an interest in Nobu restaurants (there are more than 30 around the globe), hotels and his new spirits venture, VDKA 6100 vodka.Ī former cigar smoker, De Niro has appeared on screen puffing away expertly and earnestly. He has acted in many comedies as well, including The King of Comedy, Wag The Dog, Analyze This, Midnight Run and Meet the Parents. Silver Linings Playbook.īut drama is only one side of the De Niro coin. Raging Bull (for which he won another Oscar, this time for Best Actor in a Lead Role). So many great dramas have followed: Taxi Driver. In 1973, he appeared in Mean Streets, his first film with director Martin Scorsese, and in 1974 he took the world by storm with a brilliant performance as a young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, which later won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Brian De Palma gave him his first major role with Greetings (1968), but it wasn't until the 1970s that De Niro rose to fame.

His storied career began with little fanfare, with a tiny (and uncredited) role in the 1965 French drama Three Rooms in Manhattan. He appears alongside Anne Hathaway in The Intern, which hits theaters on September 25, and in December he stars in Joy, with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Turning 72 this year, he remains exceptionally busy.

He is an actor, director and businessman, a two-time Academy Award winner who has appeared in more than 95 films. Each of these characters and so many more have been brought to life memorably by Robert De Niro. The shrewd, dry humor of father-in-law Jack Byrnes. The calculated calm of young Vito Corleone.

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