Is Robert De Niro Italian?

Yes, Robert De Niro is of Italian descent from his paternal side.

Robert Anthony De Niro, the only child of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr., was born in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York City on August 17, 1943. His mother had Dutch, English, French, and German ancestry, while his father was of Irish and Italian descent.

When he was two years old, his parents—who had first met at Hans Hofmann's painting classes in Provincetown, Massachusetts—divorced following the revelation that his father was gay. Robert was raised by his mother but remained close to his father because they lived nearby.

In contrast to his father, who had been a lapsed Catholic since the age of 12, his mother was a Presbyterian but later became an atheist. While De Niro was staying with his grandparents during his parents' divorce, against the wishes of his parents, they had him covertly baptized into the Catholic Church.

How did Robert De Niro become an actor?

Robert De Niro ultimately chose to become an actor through a variety of experiences and educational decisions. Through the sixth grade, De Niro went to PS 41, a public elementary school in Manhattan. His acting training at the Dramatic Workshop began when he was ten years old. He made his school debut as the Cowardly Lion in “The Wizard of Oz.”

De Niro discovered acting as a way to overcome his shyness and developed a passion for movies, which led him to quit high school at 16 to pursue acting. At HB Studio and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, he pursued his acting education.

Additionally, De Niro studied with Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Conservatory, where he picked up Stanislavski system methods, also famously known as Method Acting. As a young actor, De Niro was inspired by the films of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Greta Garbo, Geraldine Page, and Kim Stanley.

Is Robert De Niro married?

In 1976, De Niro married the actress Diahnne Abbott. Their son, Raphael, who works in real estate in New York, is their only child. Additionally, De Niro adopted Drena De Niro, Abbott's previous partner's daughter but in 1988, he and Abbott got divorced.

After that, he was romantically involved with model Toukie Smith from 1988 to 1996. Julian and Aaron, the couple's twin sons, were born in 1995 by a surrogate mother after being conceived through in vitro fertilization.

De Niro married actress Grace Hightower in 1997. In 1998, they had a son named Elliott, and they divorced in 1999, though they renewed their vows in 2004, as the divorce was never fully finalized. Their daughter was born via surrogate in December 2011, and after a 20-year marriage, De Niro and Hightower finally divorced in 2018.

Robert De Niro is currently dating Tiffany Chen, a martial arts trainer whom he first met while filming "The Intern." The couple was first spotted together in 2018. De Niro announced that Tiffany Chen is the mother of his seventh child, born in April 2023, despite the fact that neither of them had ever made their relationship known or acknowledged in public.

What is the net worth of Robert De Niro?

Robert De Niro's net worth is at least $500 million, according to documents that were made public as part of his contentious divorce from Grace Hightower, his wife from 1997 to 2018. According to the filing, Robert earned $250–300 million from film salaries and business dividends between 2004 and 2018 alone. Robert De Niro co-founded the Nobu chain of restaurants and hotels, which has made him a sizable fortune. Today, there are more than 50 Nobu locations worldwide. Every year, the empire brings in several hundred million dollars.

He appeared in several iconic movies set in and around New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including "Taxi Driver" and "New York, New York," among others, many of which were directed by fellow New Yorker Martin Scorsese. De Niro became a renowned actor thanks to his outstanding work in films like "The Godfather, Part II," "Bang the Drum Slowly," and "Mean Streets," for which he received an Oscar.

However, De Niro has lately concentrated on his hotel and restaurant empire and philanthropic work. He established the hugely popular Tribeca Film Festival and made investments in a number of lower Manhattan buildings and eateries. On the East and West Sides of Manhattan, he owns numerous properties.