(born 1943) A consummate actor whose roles have often explored the meaning of urban ethnic (Italian American) life in America, especially in collaboration with directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Repeatedly nominated for Academy Awards in recognition of his finely engraved portraits of small-time hoods, dreamers and losers, De Niro won Oscars for his work in The Godfather Part II (1974) and Raging Bull (1980).

He also created haunting, desperate characters in Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), True Confessions (1981), Kïng of Comedy (1983) and Cape Fear (1991), while showing an ability to laugh at this image in Analyze This (1999). He also directed A Bronx Tale (1993)