LEGENDS OF CINEMA: ROBERT DE NIRO GODFATHER OF CINEMA

All Robert De Niro ever wanted to do was act. He knew it from his first stage appearance, aged 10, playing the cowardly lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz.

After getting the best training— including from the fabled Actors Studio - he set out to build a career...and what a career it’s been.

His first major role was in 1973 crime film Mean Streets, directed by his friend, mentor and most frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese.

The next year saw his big breakthrough and first Oscar win, playing the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II.

Many more iconic movies followed such as Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull, the latter seeing his second Oscar win when he gained 60lbs to play boxer Jake La Motta.

Since then it’s been one memorable role after another in films like The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Meet the Parents, Heat, Casino and Silver Linings Playbook.

His most recent film, Scorsese gangster epic The Irishman, allows De Niro to showcase all the skills which have made him an acting great.

Respected, rewarded, imitated and admired but rarely bettered, Robert De Niro is one of the greatest actors who ever lived.

—Sandro Monetti