AFI Honors De Niro For Life Achievement
Actor Humble While Delivering Speech
POSTED: 10:56 am EDT June 13, 2003
Robert De Niro's friends and colleagues were "talkin'" about the actor Thursday night in Los Angeles, and they all had nice things to say.
The Oscar-winning actor, who delivered the famous line "You talkin' to me?" in "Taxi Driver," was award the Life Achievement Award by the American Film Institute Thursday night.Martin Scorsese, who directed De Niro in "Taxi Driver" and seven other movies, including "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas," heaped praise on the actor.Scorses called De Niro "an artist for the ages," and said he's "not only an icon but a role model and a person who's fearless and brave and selfless in his work."Also in attendance were De Niro's "Taxi Driver" co-star Jodie Foster and James Woods, who starred opposite the actor in "Once Upon a Time In America" and "Casino."The 59-year-old actor was humbled by receiving the Life Achievement honor -- the 31st such award bestowed by the AFI."I don't want to take anything for granted and I'm glad I have this opportunity to let you know how honored I am to work with you and be included in this wonderful tradition," De Niro in his speech. "I know I'm getting sentimental, but that's what this is all about."De Niro won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone in 1974's "The Godfather, Part II," and nabbed the Best Actor Oscar for playing real-life boxer Jake LaMotta in 1980's "Raging Bull."He's also received Academy Award nominations in the Best Actor category for "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The Deer Hunter" (1978), "Awakenings" (1990) and "Cape Fear" (1991).Among De Niro's other film credits are "Heat," "Mary Shelly's Frankenstein," "Cop Land," "Meet the Parents," "The Score," "Analyze This" and "Analyze That."De Niro's AFI Life Achievement ceremony will air later this month on USA. Past recipients of the Life Achievement Award include Scorsese, Fred Astaire, Jack Lemmon, Alfred Hitchcock, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier and Clint Eastwood. Last year's honoree was Tom Hanks.
The Oscar-winning actor, who delivered the famous line "You talkin' to me?" in "Taxi Driver," was award the Life Achievement Award by the American Film Institute Thursday night.Martin Scorsese, who directed De Niro in "Taxi Driver" and seven other movies, including "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas," heaped praise on the actor.Scorses called De Niro "an artist for the ages," and said he's "not only an icon but a role model and a person who's fearless and brave and selfless in his work."Also in attendance were De Niro's "Taxi Driver" co-star Jodie Foster and James Woods, who starred opposite the actor in "Once Upon a Time In America" and "Casino."The 59-year-old actor was humbled by receiving the Life Achievement honor -- the 31st such award bestowed by the AFI."I don't want to take anything for granted and I'm glad I have this opportunity to let you know how honored I am to work with you and be included in this wonderful tradition," De Niro in his speech. "I know I'm getting sentimental, but that's what this is all about."De Niro won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone in 1974's "The Godfather, Part II," and nabbed the Best Actor Oscar for playing real-life boxer Jake LaMotta in 1980's "Raging Bull."He's also received Academy Award nominations in the Best Actor category for "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The Deer Hunter" (1978), "Awakenings" (1990) and "Cape Fear" (1991).Among De Niro's other film credits are "Heat," "Mary Shelly's Frankenstein," "Cop Land," "Meet the Parents," "The Score," "Analyze This" and "Analyze That."De Niro's AFI Life Achievement ceremony will air later this month on USA. Past recipients of the Life Achievement Award include Scorsese, Fred Astaire, Jack Lemmon, Alfred Hitchcock, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier and Clint Eastwood. Last year's honoree was Tom Hanks.Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
