Robert De Niro is an American actor, director and producer whose six-decade career runs from the streets of 1970s New York cinema to some of the most quoted films ever made. Born Robert Anthony De Niro on August 17, 1943, in Manhattan, New York City, he won Academy Awards for The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull, became Martin Scorsese’s defining collaborator, and later built a second career as a Tribeca entrepreneur, co-founding the Tribeca Festival and the Nobu hospitality group.
Quick facts: Full name: Robert Anthony De Niro. Born: August 17, 1943, New York City, United States. Nationality: American. Occupation: Actor, director, producer. Known for: The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, Meet the Parents. Awards: Two Academy Awards. Partner: Tiffany Chen. Children: Seven.
Early life and background
De Niro was the only child of painters Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr., according to his biographical record. He grew up in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, and left school at 16 to study acting, training at the Stella Adler Conservatory, the HB Studio and Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio.
Breakthrough: Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II and Taxi Driver
De Niro’s breakthrough came in the early 1970s. His first collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Mean Streets (1973), put him on the map as a volatile young New York actor. A year later he played the young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II (1974), learning Sicilian dialect for the role, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1976 he starred as Travis Bickle, the disturbed taxi driver at the centre of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, a performance that remains one of the most discussed in American film.
Career: Raging Bull, Goodfellas and a second act in comedy
The peak of De Niro’s dramatic career came with Raging Bull (1980), in which he played boxer Jake LaMotta and won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He followed it with acclaimed turns in The Deer Hunter (1978), Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The Untouchables (1987), then reunited with Scorsese for Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), and shared the screen with Al Pacino in Michael Mann’s Heat (1995). From the late 1990s he also became a hugely successful comic actor, most famously as ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents (2000) and its sequels, a role he returns to in 2026.
In later years he has kept a punishing schedule: Silver Linings Playbook (2012) brought him another Oscar nomination, The Irishman (2019) reunited him with Scorsese and Pacino, and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) cast him as William Hale in Scorsese’s Osage murders drama. In 2025 he headlined the Netflix political thriller series Zero Day and played twin mob bosses in The Alto Knights. He received an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025.
Business: Tribeca and Nobu
De Niro’s second career is in downtown New York. With producer Jane Rosenthal he founded TriBeCa Productions in 1989 and the Tribeca Festival in 2002, created to help revive Lower Manhattan after the September 11 attacks. With chef Nobu Matsuhisa and producer Meir Teper he co-founded the Nobu restaurant and hotel group, which by October 2026 counted 19 hotels and 55 restaurants, according to a City AM profile. He also owns the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca.
Personal life
De Niro has seven children. He was previously married to actor Diahnne Abbott and to Grace Hightower. His partner is Tiffany Chen, a martial arts instructor, with whom he had his youngest child in 2023. He has long been an outspoken public voice on American politics, including speaking at a voter-mobilisation event in New York on October 5, 2026, ahead of the midterm elections.
Recent work in 2026
De Niro is back in the news in November 2026 for two reasons. Focker-In-Law, the fourth Meet the Parents film, opens on November 25, 2026, with De Niro, Ben Stiller and Ariana Grande — Grande plays Olivia Jones, the partner of Greg Focker’s son. And his Barbuda project is opening its doors: Parade reported on November 1, 2026 that The Beach Club, Barbuda, will offer pre-opening stays in two beachfront tented suites from late December 2026, ahead of the 36-room Nobu Beach Inn’s opening in late 2027.
Net worth snapshot
Robert De Niro’s net worth is estimated at $500 million as of 2026, according to Celebrity Net Worth as reported by Parade. The figure is an estimate, not an audited fortune — his Nobu stake and property holdings are private — and no Forbes or Bloomberg estimate was found. Read the full breakdown in Robert De Niro’s net worth.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Robert De Niro?
Robert De Niro is an American actor, director and producer born August 17, 1943, in New York City. He is a two-time Academy Award winner, known for The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Meet the Parents, and he co-founded TriBeCa Productions, the Tribeca Festival and the Nobu restaurant and hotel group.
How old is Robert De Niro in 2026?
Robert De Niro turned 83 on August 17, 2026. He was born August 17, 1943, in Manhattan, New York City.
What is Robert De Niro's next film?
His next film is Focker-In-Law, the fourth Meet the Parents film, in which he returns as Jack Byrnes alongside Ben Stiller and Ariana Grande. It is set for release on November 25, 2026.
How many Academy Awards has Robert De Niro won?
Robert De Niro has won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974) and Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980).
Sources
- Wikipedia — Robert De Niro
- Parade — Robert De Niro's Net Worth (2026)
- Parade — Robert De Niro's Exclusive Barbuda Resort Opens for Sneak-Peek Stays (Nov 1, 2026)
- City AM — Robert De Niro could do anything. So why is he promoting Nobu? (Oct 2026)
- LateNighter — Fallon Books Focker-In-Law Trio (Nov 2, 2026)