Though he has never consistently ranked as one of the industry's most popular or highly paid stars, Robert De Niro is recognized as one of Hollywood's consummate actors. A Method Actor from the beginning, De Niro is famed for the lengths to which he will go to immerse himself in his roles. While his prolific career is checkered with hits and misses, there is one thing that remains constant, good or bad, a De Niro performance is intense and the characters he plays, while not always likeable, are multi-dimensional and real. Unlike some other much higher profile actors who draw from their own experiences or always allow something of themselves to shine through, no matter what role they play, De Niro disappears completely inside his characters; they reveal nothing about the actor himself.

Born in New York City, he is named after his father, a noted expressionist abstract artist. De Niro's mother Virginia Admiral is also an artist. His parents split up shortly after he was born. One of his first acting roles was an appearance in Anton Chekov's The Bear. Following training with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, he launched his professional career on stage, working on and off Broadway, and occasionally in television commercials. He made his first film appearance as an extra in Marcel Carné's Trois Chambres a Manhattan (1965). The following year, he successfully auditioned for a small speaking part in The Wedding Party (1966). During filming, De Niro was befriended by one of the co-directors Brian De Palma, who provided the young actor with his first leading part as a draft dodger in Greetings (1966); it was a an inauspicious affair, and few saw it. The same was true of his third film, Sam's Song (1969) (this film was re-cut and re-released as The Swap a decade later to exploit De Niro's popularity). It was actress Shelley Winters, who had previously met De Niro while studying with Adler, who provided him with his first little break by casting him as her drug-addicted, dim-witted son in the low-budget film Bloody Mama (1970). Though the film wasn't great, it open doors for him in Hollywood. De Niro continued appearing in low-rent roles until he was cast opposite Michael Moriarty in the moving Bang the Drum Slowly in 1973; that year he also played a volatile, deeply troubled Johnny Boy opposite Harvey Keitel in Martin Scorcese's Mean Streets. His role as a simple-minded professional baseball player who contracts Hodgkins disease earned De Niro a "Best Supporting Actor" kudos from the New York Film Critics. His next big break came when Scorcese cast him as the young Don Corleone (played in the first film by Marlon Brando) in the acclaimed The Godfather Part II and for his subtle, multi-layered portrayal (his flawless accent came from hours of studying and practicing an authentic Sicilian dialect) he received his first Oscar for "Best Supporting Actor." In 1976, De Niro played what would become his signature role, that of tortured loner Travis Bickle in Scorcese's Taxi Driver. To prepare for playing Bickle, the actor spent days riding in New York cabs, carefully studying the drivers. In 1977, De Niro played struggling musician Jimmy Doyle opposite Liza Minnelli in Scorsese's uneven attempt at a noirish Hollywood musical New York, New York. To make his portrayal authentic, De Niro spent time learning to play the saxophone. The following year, he gave a riveting performance as in Michael Cimino's deeply disturbing The Deer Hunter as a steelworker and soldier whose life is irrevocably changed by his experiences in Vietnam. DeNiro won an Oscar for his performance as self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta in Scorcese's powerful Raging Bull. This film is frequently the one most sited when exemplifying the lengths to which De Niro goes to get into character. In this case, he gained 50 pounds to portray LaMotta in his seedy old age.

After this tremendous success he would continue doing some of his best work with the great director throughout his career. Further highlights from his Scorcese films include Goodfellas (1990), opposite Joe Pesci, and Casino (1995), which may arguably represent his strongest performance of the '90s. At one point, the actor turned his friend down flat for what could have been a plum role. In the late '80s, Scorcese approached De Niro with the lead for The Last Temptation of Christ. Ever the Method's disciple, De Niro reportedly declined the offer saying that he couldn't possibly research the role. Ironically, De Niro did accept Alan Parker's offer to play Lucifer (or Louis Cyphre as the character was known) in the violent noir Angel Heart (1987). To prepare for the three scenes in which he was to appear DeNiro grew long hair and a beard while reading biographies of evil men. Later, Parker spoke of his experience working with the actor saying "When De Niro walks on the set, you can feel his presence, but he never behaves like a movie star, just an actor. And when he acts, his sheer concentration permeates the whole set." Parker also stated that working with De Niro could be was a little exhausting, for the actor was constantly coming up with questions, new ideas and suggestions.

Through the rest of the '80s and into the '90s, De Niro has played leading, supporting and, increasingly, in character roles in films of widely varying quality. Some of his most interesting performances can be found in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Martin Brest's Midnight Run (1988) and Penny Marshall's Awakenings (1990). Though best known as a serious dramatic actor, De Niro sometimes experiments with dramatically different roles as when he played the Creature in Kenneth Branagh's much-panned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or when he played a bumbling, chronically-stoned ex-con in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997). De Niro branched out into directing and producing in 1989 with the foundation of his Tribeca Film Center. He made his debut as a producer with Neil Jordan's remake of Michael Curtiz's superior 1955 comedy We're No Angels. Despite a lavish budget and an elaborate set (with rural British Columbia standing in for New England), the film bombed, and De Niro, who also starred opposite Sean Penn, was derided for giving a hammy performance. He made an admirable directorial debut in 1993 with his sensitive adaptation of Chazz Palminteri's one-character play A Bronx Tale. In 1993, De Niro executive-produced the innovative and critically-acclaimed television anthology series Tribeca which unfortunately failed to capture an audience and was cancelled after only seven episodes. In addition to his entertainment industry commitments, De Niro created and co-owns the Tribeca Grill, located on the first two floors of his film center (which in turn is located in an historic coffee distribution building) and features his father's artwork throughout; though designed to welcome a broad clientele with a wide variety of price ranges, the restaurant is a favorite celebrity gathering place and is used to host many star-studded charitable events.