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
He’s not “racialymixed”
There are different groups of caucasians in Europe.
It’s the same in asia and africa too! BUT Let’s say a Greek and a hmm… German make a baby, that baby is still a pure caucasian baby. All caucasians got the same skulls, bonestructure and other stuff just as all africans got the same in africa, doesn’t matter is it’s a nigerian or kenyan, they share everything, the negroid skulls are the same and the asiatic skull and bonestructure is the same all over asia.
For example, a Greek and a German make a baby that baby will be half Greek half German.
If a Asian/Mongolid mix with a negroid that baby won’t be asian nor will it be african. It will be a mullato or whatever the name is. It wont blong to no race.
its stupid to single out Italian guys as loving Black women. there are 5 million Blacks with Irish last names and a great number of them come from interracial marriages or sexual relations between an Irishwoman and a Black man centuries ago. Furthermore, there are more Black with English last names than Irish and most women who date or have sexual relations with Blacks today are Irish and English, not Italian. most White men do not have relations with Black women, if anything, if they marry outside of their race, its usually with Asians or Hispanics.
actually the majority of interracial relationships between whites and blacks were between white men and black women. the high percentage of interracial relations between black men and non black women is quite new in society and was like a death sentence for black men back then. don’t confuse modern day interracial relationships with a black man being with white women as the norm centuries ago.
Albanian!
I think Robert should learn more about his other nationalities and embrace them all. I know it’s hard since he’s so diverse racially BUT it’d be a positive thing. I would love to see him play in more racially versatile roles. I know he’s more comfortable playing in Italian roles and he pulls it off beautifully but I think it’d be refreshing to see him play a dutch man,or German one. It’d be so new to us since we’re so used of seeing him play a Italian that it’d really take us back by storm.
no hes not racially diverse. dutch english french german irish and italian are all part of the white race.
He is racially diverse. You are clearly ignorant as to what “white” means. On government forms anyone that is from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa must check the “white” box as their race. European cultures are different races with different languages, customs, traditional clothes, food, etc. At least everyone knows that you are in fact racist….
NO retard, white is only for people of european ancestry, people of north africa are called arabs and it doesn’t matter if some of the arabs have light skin color,if they are not from europe they are NOT white.
Um, people of North Arfica are North Africans, not Arabs. Arabs are people from Saudi Arabia. Middle Easterns, such as Syrians and Lebanese speak Arabic as a language! Persians don’t even refer to themselves as Arabs, they don’t even speak Arabic! What people tend to do is blindly group all these countries because they follow Islamic LAws and are Muslims. Middle East is a term that describes the region as a whole because of similar culture/traditions. Israel is in the MIddle East, would you refer to them as an Arab???!!! Come on people!!
some are…
he played Irish characters in “Godfellas” and “The good sheperd”
he’s Italian!!