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.
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 his wife, actress Grace Hightower; 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/Angelina 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/Admiral and Virginia Moseby Holton). Donald was born in Illinois or Indiana. Nicholas was Dutch, born in Schoorl, North Holland, Netherlands, the son of Jacob Admiraal/Admiral and Neeltje/Nellie Bakker/Baker. Robert’s great-grandmother 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 littérateur, novelist, and short story writer; she was known as “the first woman of Mississippi to earn her living as a 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
I Have hear then he have and albanian origin from italy…
Italian-Albanian and Irish descent, and his mother was of English, German, French, and Dutch ancestry….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynQtkNU_q9U
Bianca Beauty,
What does an “Italian” look like exactly? Many people in the states are very ignorant and think that one has to have dark hair, eyes and skin in order to qualify as an Italian, or any other Latin for that matter.
This is completely false and it’s unfortunate that the film industry plays this up. There are MANY fair haired, light eyes and skinned Latins!
Redheads too!!
You’re an idiot! You are the ignorant one I’ve seen plenty of ITALIANS up close,and personal and yes I know not all Italians look the same but here in the states most Italians really are more tan & have darker hair. How the hell are you going to tell me what I don’t see with my own eyes? How are you going to call me ignorant for coming into contact with a variety of tan italians with darker hair? This is a politically incorrect statement but it’s still TRUE. I worked with a Italian guy and said “You’re italian aren’t you?”and he responded yes. Now I also knew a white italian that had brown hair and was fair skinned I’m not saying all italians look the same,and that if they don’t have dark hair,or tanned skin they don’t qualify as Italian BUT most of them do live up to the stereotype looks wise.
dont ingratiate yourself with your fellow Irish and Anglo Americans who think they are the cat’s meow because they are fair-skinned. lot of chinese are fair skinned but they are of a different race. furthermore, the ancestors of the English also included non-white peoples such as the greenlanders(eskimos0 and laplanders who originate deep into asia when the sea levels were low and exposed islets between the British Isles, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland. to the Romans and all other indigenous peoples to Italy, people with fair skin and blue eyes were so unusual that the Romans brought them from their military campaigns near the Danube to show case them to the Roman public. Northern Italians are more ethnically mixed then central and southern Italians and therefore most have no distinct features attributable to being distinctly Italians. Southern Italians had much less mobility due to the fact it is surrounded by sea on 3 sides and therefore not landlocked like the regions in northern italy who had more opportunity to mix with other ethnic groups and nationalities.
Italians are originally lightskinned espsecially southern italians because they were strict about interracialing with non whites. And alot of the ones on Tv tan 2 much. And most italians in america have green hazelor blue eyes and dark hair because the majority of them live up north and that effects european hair ,: sun exposure
Who wouldn’t want to identify with the Italian culture more? its a grand culture, Heck Greece & Italy practicaly invented the entire western culture in Europe, even shit like Opera comes from Italy.
Compared to those two nations, The dutch, Irish, & the Germans didn’t do much of anything for the world in comparison.
Thank you (grazie). I’m writing from Abruzzo (Italy).
London and Paris were founded by Romans.
Ah yes, the glorious ancient Romans who “invented” Western culture. Or, rather, the people who destroyed all the other native cultures of Europe, and erased all traces of them from our history. What a legacy. Looks like they passed it on, too, as that’s been the ideal of colonization for the last two centuries.
you dont know what the hell you are talking about, Romans build civilization. your ancestors destroyed civilizations. how do i know this, if you hate the Romans you are descended from the barbarians. they hated the romans too and ushered in the dark ages by undoing the learning and culture that the Romans built up for Europe. Jealous!
bravo anonymous, bravo!
Bianca is correct!
My mother is full Italian, & My father is Italian, Basque, Swedish, i care nothing for the Swedish or Basque heritage and i find Swedish culture to be boring, I indetify with being Italian always. If anyone ask me i say i’m Italian i usualy never even mention the Swedish, Basque heritage unless someone genuinly asks me.
oh and to kasie ur right he does love black women @moi why you had to respond to that, mind ur business ehh