Robert DeNiroborn in New York on August 17, 1943 turned 80 years old. And in New York, and more precisely in Greenwich Village, he will celebrate his most important birthday, not forgetting his origin, choosing a strictly Italian restaurant.
In fact, everyone knows that paternal grandparents, Giovanni Di Niro (an error in pronunciation led to De Niro’s transcription) and Angelina Mercurio were originally from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso.. Italy is practically a second home for him, and he also has citizenship.
He grew up with his mother Small Italy and likes to call himself Italian-American. We recently saw him in Naples with Paolo Sorrentino, but New York remains his real home. Throughout his career he has been a gangster and a cop, a detective and a criminal, even a comedian.
He can boast two Academy Awards and seven children, the last he had at 79 years old. Now he is up for a third Oscar for The Monn Killers, along with his friend, fellow Italian Martin Scorsese. 80 years pass through “Raging Bull” (1980)“Taxi Driver” (1976), “The Godfather 2” (1974)New York, New York (1977), The Deer Hunter (1978), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Mission (1986), Angel Heart (1987), One of Us “(1990), “Cape Fear” (1991), “History of the Bronx” (1993), “Casino” (1995), “Heat” (1995), “Sleepers” (1996), “Marvin’s Room” (1996)“Jackie Brown” (1996) or “Ronin” (1998).
These are all just “some” titles of films he has interpreted. Since Scorsese lived in his area, he made a dozen films, and they were all masterpieces. Brian de Palma discovered it: he brought to the big screen a handsome boy with very black eyes and a mole on his cheek.
In the ordinary imagination, despite many films, we are used to remembering him primarily for Vito Corleone’s interpretation in the second part of The Godfather and for the legendary Once Upon a Time in America. De Niro is said to have spent a good 4 months in Sicily learning how to carry his fateful accent. He made other “metamorphoses” to star in “Raging Bull”, recovering by 27 kilograms.
He could turn on set into a psychopath, a murderer, almost always an anti-hero, even a devil. Gentle in “Manuale d’amore 3” in which he plays the role of an American university professor living in Rome after the death of his wife, who lives in a relationship he tries to avoid in every possible way with a young and exuberant daughter. goalkeeper played by Monica Bellucci.
He will perform the famous striptease for her. Robert’s career has been long, very long, and he has also played comic roles such as in Meet Your Parents? and its sequels starring Ben Stiller. He also ventured into directing, making his debut as a freelance director in 1993 with Chazz Palminteri in The Bronx, and then went on to work behind the camera in other films. His personal life was clearly eventful.
Italian-American Robert De Niro has seven children born to four different women: with Dianne Abbott, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1988, he adopted a daughter, Drena (born 1971), born from his wife’s previous relationship and having a biological son Rafael (1976).
In 1995, Tuka Smith gave birth to twins Julian Henry and Aaron Kendrick through a surrogate mother. In 1997, the marriage to Grace Hightower was followed by the birth of Elliot (1998). In 2011, Helen Grace was born to Hightower by a surrogate mother. And in May 2023, here is the last child: at 79 years old, from the story of Tiffany Chen, Gia Virginia was born.
He is also the grandfather of four grandchildren. On October 18, 2006, Robert De Niro naturalized in Italy while retaining his US citizenship. To celebrate his birthday, he asked fans to vote for their favorite movie he starred in. In Italy, he was baptized by Ferruccio Amendola, who then inevitably had to give way to Stefano De Sando.
And after the death of Gianni Mina, someone pulled out of the archives a famous photo from “Checco er Carrettiere”, a famous Roman restaurant, which depicts De Niro in the company of an Italian journalist, Sergio Leone, Muhammad Ali and Garcia. Marquez.
They say that the magnet that united them all in this enviable group was a boxer. Meanwhile, it was history.
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