Part of Goodfellas featuring Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Rise to Fame
He won his first Oscar for playing young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II, slipping into Marlon Brando's territory without flinching. Raging Bull six years later made the point permanent: he trained until he could reportedly win two of three actual boxing matches in Brooklyn, then gained 60 pounds to play Jake LaMotta's later years. The preparation wasn't a stunt. It reshaped what American film acting was supposed to look like.
In the Spotlight
He became a father for the seventh time at 79, which tells you something about how he operates. At 82, he's still taking leading roles, co-running Nobu with more than 50 locations worldwide, and making headlines for showing up outside Trump's criminal trial to call him a threat to democracy. The National Association of Broadcasters pulled his leadership award over that appearance. His Tribeca Grill closed after more than three decades. The wider restaurant empire keeps expanding.
Side Notes
His father was an abstract expressionist painter, his mother a poet. He grew up in Little Italy with the nickname 'Bobby Milk' for his pale complexion, dropped out at 16, and went straight to Stella Adler's acting classes. For The King of Comedy, he spent months learning stand-up routines and stalked his own autograph hunters to understand the obsession. For Goodfellas, he insisted the prop department swap the fake money on set for real bills. He co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002.