Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, producer, and director. He is particularly known for his nine collaborations with filmmaker Martin Scorsese and is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Born in Manhattan in New York City, De Niro studied acting at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. His first major role was in Greetings (1968) and gained recognition with his role as a baseball player in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). His first collaboration with Scorsese was Mean Streets (1973), where he played small-time criminal “Johnny Boy.”

Stardom followed with his role as young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s crime epic The Godfather Part II (1974), which won De Niro the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. For his portrayal of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) and a soldier in the Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter (1978), he earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.