Robert De Niro Timeline
Robert De Niro from his 1943 birth in Manhattan through Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, the Meet the Parents comedies, to Killers of the Flower Moon and Zero Day.
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Key events
Childhood in Greenwich Village
1940s – 1950sDe Niro grows up in Manhattan's Greenwich Village and Little Italy neighborhoods, environments that later inform his portrayals of New York characters.
Robert De Niro born
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. is born in Manhattan, New York City, to painters Robert De Niro Sr. and Virginia Admiral.
Parents separate
De Niro's parents separate when he is a young child, and he grows up primarily with his mother in Manhattan.
Studies at Stella Adler Conservatory
– 1960sDe Niro studies acting at Stella Adler's Conservatory, learning techniques that help shape his intense approach to character preparation.
Studies at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio
1960sDe Niro continues his training at the Actors Studio, studying method acting under Lee Strasberg.
Film debut in The Wedding Party
De Niro appears in Brian De Palma's independent comedy The Wedding Party, filmed in the early 1960s but not released until 1969.
Greetings
Brian De Palma's Greetings is released in the United States. De Niro plays Jon Rubin, one of three young men navigating sex, politics and conspiracy.
The Wedding Party
The Wedding Party receives its US release, marking De Niro's first released feature-film appearance.
De Niro meets Martin Scorsese professionally
1970sDe Niro and Martin Scorsese develop a close creative partnership that will produce influential films spanning crime, drama, comedy and psychological thrillers.
Bang the Drum Slowly
De Niro plays terminally ill baseball catcher Bruce Pearson in a drama that brings him wider critical attention.
Mean Streets
Martin Scorsese's crime drama features De Niro as volatile small-time criminal Johnny Boy. It begins one of cinema's most influential director-actor partnerships.
The Godfather Part II
De Niro portrays young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's sequel, tracing the character's rise from Sicilian immigrant to New York crime boss.
Wins first Academy Award
De Niro wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II, becoming widely recognized as one of his generation's leading actors.
Taxi Driver
De Niro stars as Travis Bickle, a disturbed New York taxi driver, in Martin Scorsese's landmark psychological drama.
Taxi Driver wins Palme d'Or
Taxi Driver wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, cementing its reputation as a major work of American cinema.
The Last Tycoon
De Niro plays Hollywood studio executive Monroe Stahr in Elia Kazan's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel.
The Deer Hunter
De Niro stars as Michael Vronsky in Michael Cimino's drama about working-class friends whose lives are transformed by the Vietnam War.
Receives second Academy Award nomination
De Niro earns an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for The Deer Hunter.
Raging Bull
De Niro portrays boxer Jake LaMotta in Scorsese's black-and-white biographical drama, transforming his physique for the role.
Wins Academy Award for Raging Bull
De Niro wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
True Confessions
De Niro plays a Catholic priest whose relationship with his detective brother unfolds amid a murder investigation in postwar Los Angeles.
The King of Comedy
De Niro stars as Rupert Pupkin, a delusional aspiring comedian who becomes obsessed with a late-night television host.
Once Upon a Time in America
De Niro stars as David 'Noodles' Aaronson in Sergio Leone's epic crime drama about friendship, betrayal and organized crime across decades.
Falling in Love
De Niro stars opposite Meryl Streep in a romantic drama about two married strangers who develop a connection.
Brazil
De Niro plays underground heating engineer Harry Tuttle in Terry Gilliam's dystopian science-fiction satire.
The Mission
De Niro portrays slave trader Rodrigo Mendoza, who seeks redemption among Jesuit missionaries in eighteenth-century South America.
Angel Heart
De Niro plays the enigmatic Louis Cyphre in Alan Parker's supernatural mystery thriller.
The Untouchables
De Niro portrays gangster Al Capone opposite Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness in Brian De Palma's crime drama.
Midnight Run
De Niro stars as bounty hunter Jack Walsh, who must transport an accountant across the country in a comedy-action film.
Jacknife
De Niro stars as Vietnam veteran Joseph 'Megs' Megessey in a drama about trauma, friendship and returning to civilian life.
Stanley & Iris
De Niro plays a struggling baker who learns to read with help from a coworker played by Jane Fonda.
Goodfellas
De Niro plays veteran mobster Jimmy Conway in Scorsese's acclaimed account of the rise and fall of gangster Henry Hill.
Awakenings
De Niro portrays Leonard Lowe, a patient who temporarily emerges from a catatonic state after experimental treatment, opposite Robin Williams.
Cape Fear
De Niro plays convicted rapist Max Cady, who terrorizes the family of the lawyer he blames for his imprisonment in Scorsese's thriller.
Night and the City
De Niro stars as a New York lawyer who tries to reinvent himself as a boxing promoter in Irwin Winkler's crime drama.
This Boy's Life
De Niro plays abusive stepfather Dwight Hansen in the coming-of-age drama based on Tobias Wolff's memoir.
A Bronx Tale
De Niro makes his feature directorial debut and plays a bus driver raising his son amid neighborhood tensions and organized crime in the Bronx.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
De Niro plays the Creature in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel.
Casino
De Niro stars as casino executive Sam 'Ace' Rothstein in Scorsese's crime epic about the Las Vegas gambling industry and mob influence.
Heat
De Niro plays professional thief Neil McCauley opposite Al Pacino's detective Vincent Hanna in Michael Mann's crime thriller.
The Fan
De Niro plays an obsessive baseball fan whose fixation on a star player turns violent.
Sleepers
De Niro plays Father Bobby Carillo, a priest caught between a childhood tragedy and a murder trial in Barry Levinson's drama.
Marvin's Room
De Niro plays a doctor treating a family whose relationships are strained by illness and long-standing resentments.
Cop Land
De Niro plays internal affairs investigator Moe Tilden in James Mangold's drama about police corruption in a New Jersey town.
Jackie Brown
De Niro plays Louis Gara, a recently released criminal drawn into a money-smuggling scheme in Quentin Tarantino's crime film.
Wag the Dog
De Niro stars as political spin doctor Conrad Brean, who manufactures a fake war to distract the public from a presidential scandal.
Great Expectations
De Niro plays escaped convict Arthur Lustig in Alfonso Cuarón's contemporary adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel.
Ronin
De Niro stars as Sam, an experienced former intelligence operative hired to steal a mysterious briefcase in John Frankenheimer's thriller.
Analyze This
De Niro plays anxious mob boss Paul Vitti, who seeks help from a psychiatrist played by Billy Crystal in this crime comedy.
Flawless
De Niro plays a retired security guard recovering from a stroke who develops an unlikely relationship with a drag performer played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Meet the Parents
De Niro plays intimidating former CIA agent Jack Byrnes, whose scrutiny of his daughter's boyfriend drives the comedy.
Men of Honor
De Niro portrays Navy diving instructor Billy Sunday, who trains Carl Brashear, the Navy's first Black master diver.
15 Minutes
De Niro plays homicide detective Eddie Flemming in a thriller about violent criminals exploiting television news and celebrity culture.
The Score
De Niro stars as veteran safecracker Nick Wells, who is persuaded to undertake one final heist with a younger partner played by Edward Norton.
Showtime
De Niro plays a serious police detective paired with an ambitious patrol officer in a comedy about a reality television police show.
City by the Sea
De Niro plays a homicide detective whose investigation becomes personal when his estranged son is implicated in a murder.
Analyze That
De Niro reprises mob boss Paul Vitti, who leaves prison and returns to his psychiatrist for help adjusting to life outside crime.
Godsend
De Niro plays a fertility specialist who offers grieving parents a controversial way to bring their dead son back.
Meet the Fockers
De Niro returns as Jack Byrnes, meeting his daughter's free-spirited parents in the successful sequel to Meet the Parents.
Hide and Seek
De Niro stars as a widowed psychologist whose young daughter develops a disturbing relationship with an imaginary friend.
Stardust
De Niro plays Captain Shakespeare, a pirate captain concealing a surprising side, in a fantasy adventure based on Neil Gaiman's novel.
Righteous Kill
De Niro and Al Pacino star as veteran New York detectives investigating a series of murders linked to criminals who escaped justice.
What Just Happened
De Niro stars as a Hollywood producer trying to navigate professional crises, difficult actors and industry politics.
Everybody's Fine
De Niro plays a widower who travels across the country to reconnect with his adult children and discovers they have hidden struggles.
Machete
De Niro plays a corrupt Texas senator in Robert Rodriguez's action film about an ex-Federale framed for assassination.
Little Fockers
De Niro reprises Jack Byrnes in the third Meet the Parents film, as family tensions resurface around the next generation.
Limitless
De Niro plays a powerful businessman entangled with a writer whose cognitive abilities are enhanced by an experimental drug.
Killer Elite
De Niro plays a veteran operative targeted in a covert operation involving assassins and a former special forces soldier.
Silver Linings Playbook
De Niro plays Pat Solitano Sr., a father struggling to support his son while coping with his own compulsions and family tensions.
Wins fourth Academy Award nomination for Silver Linings Playbook
De Niro receives an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Silver Linings Playbook, his first acting nomination in more than two decades.
The Family
De Niro plays a former mob boss relocated to France under witness protection, where his family struggles to leave its criminal habits behind.
Last Vegas
De Niro stars with Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline as longtime friends reuniting for a Las Vegas bachelor party.
Grudge Match
De Niro and Sylvester Stallone play retired boxing rivals persuaded to face each other in one last fight.
Hands of Stone
De Niro plays boxing trainer Ray Arcel, who mentors Panamanian champion Roberto Durán.
The Comedian
De Niro stars as an aging insult comic attempting to rebuild his life and career.
The Wizard of Lies
De Niro portrays financier Bernie Madoff in an HBO film about the massive Ponzi scheme and its devastating effects on investors and family.
Joker
De Niro plays talk-show host Murray Franklin in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller about the origins of the Joker.
The Irishman
Scorsese's crime epic opens in select US theaters, with De Niro as Frank Sheeran reflecting on his life in organized crime.
Wins Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
De Niro receives the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in recognition of his career and contributions to film.
The War with Grandpa
De Niro plays a grandfather whose grandson tries to reclaim his bedroom in this family comedy.
Amsterdam
De Niro appears as General Gil Dillenbeck in David O. Russell's period mystery involving friends caught in a political conspiracy.
About My Father
De Niro stars as an Italian immigrant father whose traditional outlook clashes with his son's prospective in-laws.
Killers of the Flower Moon
De Niro plays cattleman William Hale in Scorsese's historical crime drama about the murders of Osage Nation members in 1920s Oklahoma.
Receives Academy Award nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon
De Niro receives an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of William Hale.
Ezra
De Niro stars as a grandfather helping his son and autistic grandson navigate family conflict and a cross-country journey.
Zero Day
De Niro stars as former US president George Mullen in a political thriller miniseries investigating a devastating cyberattack.
The Alto Knights
De Niro portrays both mob bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese in Barry Levinson's crime drama about their rivalry.
11 more in the interactive timeline.
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