Robert De Niro remains a titan in the world of acting, even as he celebrates his 72nd birthday this week. Co-starring with Anne Hathaway in his latest film, The Intern, hitting theaters on September 25, De Niro remains as busy as ever. Throughout his 40-plus year acting career, the native New Yorker has managed to keep his private life out of the media and tabloids; no easy feat in this day and age. And you would think that being held in such esteem by his peers and audiences around the world would inflate the ego, but De Niro refuses to acknowledge his own historic career, saying, "I do not consider myself some sort of acting legend, just an actor doing his best with the material that is there at the time."
With such modesty, we’re more than happy to spotlight the work of Robert De Niro through more than a dozen films found in the Warner Bros. Film Library. Some of these films you will know, some are criminally under-appreciated, and others are good for some light-hearted fun. The only thing they have in common is that they include the thespian brilliance and undeniable charisma of one of the finest actors to ever step in front of a camera: Mr. Robert De Niro.
De Niro starred with Leigh Taylor-Young and Oscar winner Jo Van Fleet in 1971's comedic look at organized crime The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. De Niro's star was soon on the rise!
Looking more like a rock star than a star-bound actor, De Niro exploded into stardom with his award-winning portrayal of Johnny Boy in Martin Scorsese's classic Mean Streets in 1973.
A decade later, following his star turns in The Godfather II, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and his Oscar-winning performance in Raging Bull, De Niro was back to his trademark gangster roles as David "Noodles" Aaronson (alongside James Woods) in Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in America.
De Niro discusses a scene with director Roland Joffe on the set of 1986's The Mission, which received seven Oscar nominations including ones for "Best Picture" and "Best Director."
In one of his most memorable performances, De Niro played mobster James Conway in Martin Scorsese's classic Goodfellas. Here De Niro is advising Christopher Serrone, playing a young Henry Hill on whose life story the film is based.
De Niro returned to the screen a year later in the often overlooked but masterful Guilty By Suspicion, in which he plays fictitious movie director David Merrill who becomes a target of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s. In a powerhouse performance, De Niro's Merrill must choose between career and loyalty to friends and family.
Leonardo Di Caprio was not yet out of his teens when he worked with De Niro in the 1993 drama This Boy’s Life, Di Caprio would later say: “I want to be an actor just like my role models, Robert De Niro, for example. Being discreet in his private life has allowed him to be even more credible in different roles on the big screen.”
Alongside a powerhouse cast led by De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer, 1995's high-octane crimer thriller Heat was a critical and box office success telling the tale of the leader of a bank robbery gang (led by De Niro) and the detective out to stop him (Pacino). Pictured above is the famous shoot-out scene in downtown Los Angeles that remains one of cinema's most unnerving sequences.
In the emotionally-compelling drama Sleepers, De Niro plays Father Bobby who helps four young men—Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup and Jason Patric (pictured above)—get revenge on the men who mentally and physically assaulted them in childhood.
In Barry Levinson's political satire Wag the Dog, De Niro plays a political consultant who is brought in to help quell a sex scandal involving the President of the United States. His plan of action? Hire a film producer (Dustin Hoffman, pictured above with Anne Heche) to help produce a fake war between the U.S. and Albania. In one of those art-before-reality moments, the film became even more popular a month after its release as it was referenced continually by the media after President Clinton became entangled in the Monica Lewinsky affair which was followed by the controversial U.S. bombing of the Sudanese pharmaceutical factory Al-Shifa.
Taking his mafia roles in an all-new direction in the comedy Analyze This, De Niro and co-stars Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow hit box office paydirt in the story of a mob boss who turns his shrink's life upside down.
Using Andy Warhol's famous quote of "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" as its premise, 15 Minutes takes that belief to a twisted level as two homicidal maniacs take to videotaping all of their crimes in an effort to gain notoriety. De Niro and Edward Burns are the detective and fire marshal on their tail.
De Niro gives another stellar performance as a troubled police detective who must bring his estranged son (James Franco) to justice in City By the Sea. The impressive cast also includes Oscar winner Frances McDormand.
In the action/comedy Showtime, De Niro and Eddie Murphy star as two cops who become the main characters in a reality show about real-life cops that quickly loses any sense of reality.
Who wouldn't need a little extra oxygen if you were being served breakfast by none other than Halle Berry? Among an amazing ensemble cast, De Niro plays the small role of a man dying of cancer who just wants to see the ball drop in New York's Times Square one last time in the melodramatic New Year's Eve.
More than 30 years after winning the Oscar for his performance as boxer Jake LaMotta, De Niro re-entered the ring—along with another famous cinematic boxer named Sylvester Stallone—in the 2013 comedy Grudge Match.
Whether his many movies were ultimately a financial or critical success or not, whenever you have a chance to see Robert De Niro at work you are seeing a Master of the Craft! And don't forget to see Bobby D in the upcoming comedy with Anne Hathaway, The Intern, on September 25, when we remember that "experience never gets old"!
