Robert De Niro
De Niro in 2015, photo by Prphotos
Place of Birth: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: August 17, 1943
Ethnicity: Italian (paternal grandfather), Irish, German, Dutch, small amounts of English, French Huguenot, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish
Robert De Niro is an American actor, director, and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974), and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980). His many other films include Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, 1900, The Deer Hunter, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Mission (1986), Midnight Run, Goodfellas, Awakenings, Cape Fear (1991), Night and the City, Mad Dog and Glory, This Boy’s Life, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Casino, Heat (1995), Wag the Dog, Jackie Brown, Analyze This, and its sequel; Meet the Parents, and its sequels; Godsend (2004), Shark Tale, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Intern, Joker, The Irishman, The War with Grandpa, and Killers of the Flower Moon; and television’s The Wizard of Lies and Saturday Night Live. He directed the films A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd, both of which he also starred in. He co-founded film and television production company TriBeCa Productions, and later the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002. He is known as one of the greatest actors of all time.
Robert is the son of Virginia (Admiral), a painter and poet, and Robert De Niro, an abstract expressionist painter. His parents met in painting classes in Massachusetts. Robert was raised by his mother in Greenwich Village and Little Italy, Manhattan. Robert was secretly baptized Catholic by his paternal grandparents.
He is married to actress Grace Hightower. Robert has two children with his former partner, actress and model Toukie Smith; two children, actress Drena De Niro, whom Robert legally adopted, and actor and real estate broker Raphael De Niro, with his former wife, actress Diahnne Abbott; two children with Grace; and a daughter with his partner Tiffany Chen.
He has played an Italian-American character in several films, and is himself of one quarter Italian ancestry. His father was of half Italian and half Irish descent. His maternal grandfather was of Dutch, as well as English, French Huguenot, Irish, German, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, ancestry, and his maternal grandmother was of German descent.
Robert has become an honorary Italian citizen. He has stated:
I probably identify more with my Italian side than with my other parts.
Robert’s paternal grandfather was Henry Martin De Niro (the son of Giovanni DiNiro/Di Niro and Angiolina Mercurio). Henry was born in Ferrazzano, Province of Campobasso, Molise, Italy. Giovanni was the son of Carmine DiNiro/Di Niro and Francesca Notartomaso. Angiolina was the daughter of Luigi Mercurio and Rosanna/Rose Alaura.
Robert’s paternal grandmother was Helen M. O’Reilly (the daughter of Dennis Edward/Francis O’Reilly and Mary Burns). Helen was born in New York. Dennis and Mary were both born in New York, both of them to Irish immigrant parents. Dennis was the son of Edward O’Reilly and Margaret. Mary was the daughter of John Burns and Mary.
Robert’s maternal grandfather was Donald Admiral/Admiraal (the son of Nicholas Klaas Admiraal and Virginia Moseby Holton). Donald was born in Illinois or Indiana. Nicholas was Dutch, born in Schoorl, North Holland, the Netherlands, the son of Jacob Admiraal and Neeltje Bakker. Virginia was born in Kentucky, the daughter of Nicholas Moseby/Mosby Holton and Lucy Ann Dupuy. She was from a family that had lived in the U.S. for many generations, and had English, French Huguenot, Irish, German, Dutch, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish ancestry. Lucy’s sister, Eliza Ann Dupuy (also known as Annie Young), was a novelist and short story writer.
Robert’s maternal grandmother was Alice Caroline Groman (the daughter of Gustave “August” Groman and Gesina Marie Beckmann/Beckman). Alice was born in Iowa. Gustave and Gesina were born in Indiana, both of them to German parents. Gesina was the daughter of Harm Christoph Beckmann and Elizabeth Margaretha Fink.
De Niro with wife Grace Hightower, 2010, Vonora/bigstock.com
Sources: Genealogy of Robert De Niro – http://www.geni.com
Pictures of Robert’s parents – http://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Robert De Niro (focusing on his father’s side) – http://geneasud.com
Robert’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Video about the family of Robert’s paternal grandfather, Henry Martin De Niro – https://www.youtube.com
Genealogy of Robert’s maternal grandfather, Donald Admiral/Admiraal (focusing on his own mother’s side) – http://gw.geneanet.org
Robert’s maternal grandfather, Donald Admiral/Admiraal, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Biography of Robert’s maternal great-great-great-aunt, Eliza Ann Dupuy (Annie Young) – http://www.encyclopedia.com
Robert’s maternal grandmother, Alice Caroline Groman, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
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