Robert De Niro is widely considered among the greatest actors of all time. Lauded by critics and casual movie-goers alike for his broad range of memorable roles, his tireless work ethic has resulted in some masterpieces of cinema—but also some dark moments for the actor himself.
1. He Grew Up On Art
Robert Anthony De Niro was born on August 17, 1943, in Manhattan. De Niro had exposure to art from a young age: his parents were both artists and had met at painting classes led by renowned painter Hans Hoffman. His father, Robert Sr, had serious talent himself—but terrible timing.
His classical style failed to stand out in art world increasingly captivated by modern art. This left his father bitter, and his parents split up when he was just two years old, leaving a massive void in his upbringing.
John Mathew Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
2. His Grandparents Indoctrinated Him
Robert De Niro grew up without religion. His mother, raised Presbyterian, had become an atheist by the time her she gave birth to her son. De Niro’s father was a lapsed Catholic with no real soft spot for the church. However, his paternal grandparents were devout Catholics and, against the wishes of his parents, had the young De Niro secretly baptized while looking after him during his parents’ divorce.
He never found community in the church, instead embracing his neighborhood.
Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
3. He Had A Funny Nickname
Robert De Niro grew up near Little Italy in Manhattan, leading him to identify much more with his Italian-American side. However, his father was also half-Irish, leaving Robert with a relatively pale complexion. The darker-skinned Italian neighborhood kids nicknamed him “Bobby Milk”.
He seemed unphased, but his father felt otherwise.
4. His Father Disapproved Of His Friends
De Niro met many of his childhood friends on the streets of Little Italy. It was a relatively disadvantaged area at the time, and Robert De Niro Sr, himself enmeshed in the pretentious art community, did not approve of his son’s association with the neighborhood kids.
Some of them remain De Niro’s friends to this day, however, and they can say they were present for the superstar’s humble beginnings.
Evening Standard, Getty Images
5. He Began With An Iconic Role
By the time he was 10 years old, Robert De Niro had discovered acting. He began to take acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop, a drama school set up by a progressive research university. De Niro’s first role came that year when he played the Cowardly Lion in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz. It was an unexpected turn, considering the young man’s personality.
Mondadori Portfolio, Getty Images
6. He Was Quiet
Robert De Niro continued to perform into his teenage years. This was a surprise to his family and peers, as Bobby had a reputation as a quiet, subdued boy. But De Niro later explained that performing helped him to overcome his shyness and find confidence in playing other people. The stage was, quite literally, set for the rest of his life.
Santi Visalli Inc., Getty Images
7. He Dropped Out Of School
Robert De Niro became fascinated with cinema during his teens. By the time he reached the age of 16, he found drama class to be limiting his ambitions. That’s when he made a drastic decision. He decided to drop out of school to pursue acting full time. He took inspiration from his heroes, but also from unexpected sources.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
8. He Was Confident In His Abilities
De Niro recalled watching a TV show at the age of 18 and not being overly impressed with the onscreen talent—but thinking, if they could do it, why couldn’t he? But instead of resting on his laurels, he decided to invest in himself, and went on to study with the most renowned teachers in the world at HB Studio, Lee Strasberg’s Acting Studio, and the Stella Adler Conservatory, under Adler herself.
And his hard work paid off.
Marianne Barcellona, Getty Images
9. He Began In Comedy
Robert de Niro is one of the greatest dramatic actors of his generation—but he got his start in comedies. His first major role came in the 1968 comedy Greetings, directed by Brian De Palma. Along with being the first of several collaborations between De Niro and De Palma, the role also initially established De Niro as a comedic actor.
He appeared in De Palma’s next comedy, The Wedding Party, in 1968, for which he received favorable reviews. His dedication to his craft increased with each role.
West End Films, Greetings (1968)
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10. He Learned Skills For His Roles
De Niro returned to the big screen in 1973’s Bang the Drum Slowly, where he played a baseball player with Hodgkin disease. He took the role extremely seriously. He learned to play baseball for the film. The writer of the novel the film was based on would recount: “He learned only as much baseball as he needed for his role. I doubt that he ever cared to touch a baseball again”.
This commitment attracted the attention of a big name.
Paramount, Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
11. He Found A Lifelong Collaborator
Later that year, De Niro starred alongside Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets. The film’s director, Martin Scorsese, was impressed with the young actor and it would mark the beginning of a lifelong collaboration between the two. At the time of writing, De Niro and Scorsese have worked together on 10 feature films, all of them considered among the best of both men’s careers.
Scorsese found out early on just how serious De Niro was about his work.
Darren McCollester, Getty Images
12. He Became Engulfed By His Work
Scorsese was impressed with De Niro’s skills and encouraged him to take the role of “Johnny Boy” Civello. De Niro agreed and fell into the part. Although Scorsese permitted his actors to improvise, De Niro allegedly took his preparation extremely seriously. A crew member recalls that his rehearsal was so intense that he isolated himself from the rest of the cast and crew when the camera wasn’t rolling.
His dedication made sense, considering how carefully he chose his roles.
13. He Passed On A Big Movie
De Niro auditioned for the 1972 classic The Godfather and was actually offered a small role. He even began filming but, while on set, he made a shocking decision. De Niro asked to be released from his contract after a role opened in another film that he wanted more.
For any other actor, passing up the opportunity to be in one of the most acclaimed films of all time would be the death knell of their career. But for De Niro, it worked out strangely well.
14. He Made An Impression
Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola began casting for the sequel to his acclaimed masterpiece soon after its release. De Niro had made enough of a mark in his previous audition that Coppola decided to offer him the iconic role of a young Vito Corleone in Part II.
Such was De Niro’s luck: passing up a small role in the first film landed him a much bigger part in the second. And the role wasn’t all he landed.
Paramount, The Godfather Part II (1974)
15. He Won Big In Absentia
The Godfather Part II, like its predecessor, received widespread critical acclaim with many considering it the finest film ever made. De Niro’s performance in particular was lauded and, after receiving a nomination, he won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It should’ve been the biggest night of his life—but he was nowhere to be found.
De Niro was already in Italy, working on his next film, so Coppola had to accept the reward on his behalf. It was not the only notable win of the evening.
16. He Shared A First With His Hero
Having won the Oscar for playing a young Vito Corleone that night, De Niro now shared a peculiar accolade with one of his acting heroes, Marlon Brando. Brando had previously won an Oscar for his portrayal of Corleone in the first Godfather movie, meaning he and De Niro became the first actors to win Oscars for playing the same fictional character.
That would be the peak for most actors—but De Niro’s star kept rising.
Paramount , The Godfather (1972)
17. He Prepared Intensely For His Next Role
De Niro’s next role was another collaboration with Scorsese, this time as the lead in Taxi Driver. De Niro was cast as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran from the Midwest who gets a job as a driver in New York City following the war. To prepare for the role, De Niro spent time on an army base in the Midwest to learn the accent and mannerisms of the soldiers stationed there. And his preparation didn’t stop there.
18. He Went Undercover
Robert De Niro also underwent a physical transformation for the role, losing 30 pounds to take on the appearance of a soldier just back from a war and having survived only on food rations. After returning from the Midwest, De Niro went a step further and applied for a taxi license in New York City. He worked 12-hour days undercover as a cabby for a whole month. As a result, he slid flawlessly into the role.
19. He Improvised An Iconic Line
Taxi Driver became known for many things–the cinematography, the dialogue, the themes of loneliness, alienation, and obsession—but the most well-known scene in the movie is the one in which Travis Bickle talks to himself in the mirror while brandishing a weapon.
The famous “Are you talkin’ to me?” monologue was completely improvised by De Niro, displaying his innate sense of dramatic gravitas and his complete inhabitation of the character. Critics paid attention.
20. He Got His Accolades
De Niro’s performance in Taxi Driver received universal acclaim. The Washington Post gushed that it was a “landmark performance” for the actor and the part has become De Niro’s signature role, seldom left unmentioned in any summation of his career. He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor—but lost to Peter Finch.
However, De Niro gained something else from the movie.
21. He Fell In Love With A Co-Star
Taxi Driver changed De Niro’s life in more ways than one. While filming, he met actress Diahnne Abbott. She may have had a small role as a box office clerk in the film, but she quickly became the leading lady of De Niro’s heart. Their initial spark led to a wedding a year later in 1976. But this was only the beginning.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
22. He Became A Father
The same year, De Niro experienced another milestone: He became a father. Not only did he adopt Abbott’s daughter Drena, but the happy couple also welcomed a son named Raphael Eugene. For over ten years, his marriage seemed rock solid—but by 1988, they had run their course. However, not everything is as it seemed.
Behind the scenes, De Niro had allegedly become embroiled in one of the greatest scandals of his life.
23. He Betrayed Her
Reportedly, Robert De Niro had embarked on a passionate affair with Helena Springs behind his wife’s back—and this later came back to haunt him. Down the road, Springs came forward with shocking claims. According to her, she and the actor began a lengthy romance in 1979, which eventually resulted in a pregnancy.
She believed De Niro to be the father and wanted him to pay child support. But it gets messier.
Roland Godefroy, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
24. His Daughter Didn't Belong To Him
For a short time, Robert De Niro truly thought that he was the biological father of a baby girl named Nina. When she was born, he even coughed up the dough for Springs’ medical bills. But it wasn’t until later that the stunning truth came out. DNA testing proved that Nina was not De Niro’s daughter.
Despite this, Springs still wanted the actor to pay child support. She faced him down in court—but ultimately lost.
United Artists, New York, New York (1977)
25. He Didn’t Just Act
Robert De Niro once again teamed up with Scorsese in 1977, and this time, they tried their hand at a musical. Starring opposite Liza Minelli in New York, New York, De Niro played her love interest, a saxophone player named Jimmy. Ever one to commit to his work, De Niro actually learned to play the saxophone under the guidance of famous jazz sax player Georgie Auld. The hardest working actor is Hollywood was in demand.
United Artists, New York, New York (1977)
26. He Could Sell A Movie
In 1978, De Niro once again played a Vietnam vet in The Deer Hunter. Despite the stacked cast, including Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep, the story was challenging and the director, Michael Cimino, was inexperienced. The producers intentionally sought De Niro for the role for his added star power, hoping the success of his previous films would help marketing a “gruesome-sounding storyline and a barely known director”.
But he did more than take on the challenge—he also saved the film in the most heartbreaking way (more on that later).
EMI Films, The Deer Hunter (1978)
27. He Put His Body At Risk
De Niro and Scorsese collaborated for a fourth time in 1980 for a biopic about boxer Jake LaMotta entitled Raging Bull. Another of De Niro’s iconic roles, his preparation was characteristically intense. He learned to box and gained 60 pounds to look more like LaMotta. Scorsese had another hit, and De Niro another iconic role.
But behind the scenes, he began to wonder if he was getting stuck in a rut.
United Artists, Raging Bull (1980)
28. He Wanted To Play Against Type
After getting his start in comedy, Robert De Niro was now exclusively associated with dark, dramatic roles. Reflecting on this, he entered the 1980s seeking to expand his acting range, pursuing more comedic parts. He found a perfect synthesis of his talents in another Scorsese movie, 1982’s The King of Comedy, where he played struggling comedian and sociopath Rupert Pupkin. He took his newfound selectiveness very seriously.
29. He Turned Down The Greatest Story
In another great case of a might-have-been, Scorsese once again approached De Niro in 1988 to play the lead role of Jesus of Nazareth in the director’s biblical epic, The Last Temptation of Christ. Surprisingly to Scorsese, De Niro turned down the role, although in a touching display of their friendship, he told Scorsese he would take the role if the director really needed him to.
The role ultimately went to Willem Dafoe. Perhaps the timing was good for De Niro’s personal life.
Universal, The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
30. He Had A Rocky Relationship With A Model
After splitting with Diahnne Abbot, De Niro began dating model Toukie Smith in 1988. They kept their relationship largely private—but behind the scenes, things got messy. They were reportedly on-again, off-again. They split in 1994, for example, before reuniting the following year and welcoming twin sons together via surrogate in 1995. Fatherhood to twins wasn’t De Niro’s only new frontier.
31. He Tried His Hand Behind The Camera
Robert De Niro decided to follow in the footsteps of his friend Scorsese and made his directorial debut with 1993’s A Bronx Tale, starring in the film as well. Bronx tackled heavy themes of temptation, racism, and conflicting values, and De Niro’s efforts in the hot seat received praise from critics. But there was one thing De Niro was yet to do in film that audiences longed for.
B.T. Films, A Bronx Tale (1993)
32. He Shared The Screen With Another Great
Though they shared the cast list for Godfather Part II, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino had never appeared onscreen together, as their Godfather scenes took place in different timelines. Many were eager to see these two acclaimed contemporaries collaborate, and they finally did with 1995’s bank heist thriller Heat, a title which accurately described their onscreen chemistry.
Critics and fans alike gushed over the film. And De Niro took on some less conventional projects in the 90s as well.
33. He Produced An Unexpected Project
Bizarrely, in 1996, Robert De Niro signed on to produce, of all things, a video game. De Niro was apparently intrigued by the growing industry and created a division of his production company called Tribeca Interactive to fund a point and click puzzle game called 9: The Last Resort. The impressive voice cast included Cher, Jim Belushi, and Ellen DeGeneres, but the game made little impact.
The 90s continued to be interesting for De Niro.
GianAngelo Pistoia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
34. He Dated A Supermodel
De Niro split with Toukie Smith a few years after their twins were born and not long after, he was romantically linked with notoriously fiery supermodel Naomi Campbell. But their relationship took a surprising turn. Though the gossip rags may have expected an explosive ending, Campbell only had kind things to say about De Niro after their split.
35. He Married A Waitress
In 1987, De Niro met waitress Grace Hightower while she was employed at the famous Mr Chow restaurant in London. They stayed in touch for the next decade and in 1997, the pair tied the knot. The couple welcomed a son a year later. It was a brief reprieve in a bad year for De Niro.
Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
36. He Got Detained In France
In 1998, while filming a movie in France, local authorities brought De Niro in for questioning—and the reason why was shocking. They suspected he had a connection to an alleged international trafficking ring. Apparently, one of the victims had mentioned his name, but De Niro staunchly denied any involvement.
He was furious at his detainment and vowed never to return to France again, although he reneged on that promise in later years. De Niro continued his outspoken streak.
37. His Marriage Was On The Rocks
Less than two years after his 1997 marriage to Grace Hightower, Robert De Niro filed for divorce. There were reports that he was not working very hard at the relationship and though the two seemed amicable enough at first, things soon got ugly.
38. He Was Slandered In Court
In 2001, De Niro and Hightower entered an intense custody battle over their children—and it quickly escalated into shocking accusations. Hightower accused De Niro of infidelity and substance issues. De Niro countered, claiming she had a hot temper that resulted in her fracturing one of his ribs during an argument.
The judge ordered the pair to consult a with mental health expert to resolve the dispute. The results were surprising.
Miro Vrlik Photography, Shutterstock
39. He Saved His Marriage
Despite the ugliness of the court proceedings, De Niro and Hightower’s divorce was, amazingly, never finalized, and the two seemed to have resolved their differences. In November 2004, the two renewed their vows at a star-studded ceremony attended by big names like Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Ben Stiller.
But all the drama that came before may have had an effect on De Niro.
40. He Became A Granddad
Robert De Niro’s first child was Drena De Niro, his first wife Diahnne Abbott’s daughter that he adopted. The two have always been close and she’s appeared in multiple films alongside her father, including Showtime and The Intern. In 2003, she gave De Niro his first grandchild, a son named Leandro. Sadly, in 2023, the family had to face unimaginable tragedy.
41. He Lost A Grandchild
In 2023, Drena De Niro revealed that Leandro had passed away at the age of 19 after an accidental overdose. Sadly, Drena then became the target of horrible and hateful comments online after the announcement. Robert De Niro spoke about the tragedy a year later, calling it “awful” and saying “[I] never thought it would happen”.
42. He Was Targeted
In 2018, Robert De Niro found himself in a situation that seemed torn from the plot of an action thriller. A series of suspicious packages were sent to political figures like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden—and an identical package was found in the most bizarre place. The authorities intercepted an explosive that was mailed to Robert De Niro’s restaurant Tribeca Grill, which is in the same building as his film company.
43. He’s A Vaccine Skeptic
Robert De Niro received criticism in 2016 for including a controversial anti-vaccine documentary in the Tribeca Film Festival. Stating his interest in the film came from his personal experience raising an autistic son, De Niro nonetheless clarified he was not anti-vax, but merely skeptical of their efficacy.
44. He Really Gives His All
Most people don't understand just how far De Niro will go for a role. The most extreme example has to be Cape Fear. To prepare for the movie, he paid his dentist $5,000 to make his teeth look worse. He filmed the movie with the beaten-up grill, then when shooting wrapped, he paid his dentist another $20,000 to fix them.
45. He Started Dating Again
De Niro met martial arts instructor Tiffany Chen in 2015 on the set of The Intern…while still married to Grace Hightower. He and Hightower finally divorced in 2018, and by 2021, it was reported that De Niro was dating Chen, who was 42 years his junior. The age difference was emphasized with De Niro’s next life milestone.
46. He’s One Of The Oldest Dads
De Niro welcomed his seventh child, daughter Gia, with Chen in April of 2023. Gia’s father was 79 years old at the time of her birth, making De Niro one of the oldest fathers on record. In a life full of accolades and artistic approaches to acting, perhaps it is appropriate that De Niro holds this record, a reflection that he’s always done things his way.
47. He Met His Match
John Cazale was only in a handful of movies in his lifetime, each of which swept the Oscars. After meeting Robert De Niro on the set of The Godfather II, the legends-in-the-making were excited to appear in The Deer Hunter together—only for Cazale to get a devastating diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Director Michael Cimino vowed to keep it a secret, but soon the studio, Universal, caught wind—and they were furious. They wanted him gone.
48. He Supported Another Legend
Even if Universal agreed to keep John Cazale in the film, they still had to insure him. With his diagnosis of lung cancer, this would be a huge expense, and Universal wasn’t about to pay out. Cazale and his girlfriend, Meryl Streep, were both still new to the business, so they likely didn’t have that kind of cash.
That’s when Robert De Niro stepped in and made a heartbreaking gesture—he paid for Cazale’s insurance, something that wasn’t revealed until after he’d passed on.
EMI Films, The Deer Hunter (1978)
49. Sometimes Method Goes Too Far
Robert De Niro knows a good actor when he sees one, and he likely knew that his performance would be made even better by Cazale’s immense talent. But De Niro still chose to go a little method for The Deer Hunter—and he took it to a disturbing level. There’s a famous scene where Cazale and De Niro’s characters play Russian Roulette.
De Niro wanted the scene to have high stakes for both the characters and the actors, so he asked the director to put one live cartridge in the revolver they were using.
EMI Films, The Deer Hunter (1978)
50. His Father Had A Secret
Robert De Niro’s parents split up when he was only two years old. He did not see his father very often after that and always wondered why. It wasn’t until years later that De Niro would discover the reason for his parents’ split. His mother began to drop hints about Robert Sr, and De Niro eventually understood that his father was gay. The two became close later in life, with De Niro Sr writing passages in his journal that revealed how proud he was of his son—but also how much he struggled with his mental health and homosexuality.
Though De Niro has given the journals to the authors of a book about his father, he has said he can’t bear to read them himself.
