De Niro: A Life
Page 65
As I say, I spoke and/or corresponded with perhaps four dozen people who have had firsthand acquaintance with De Niro and with events recounted in this book, some of whom wished to remain anonymous. Among those whom I can thank publicly are Verna Bloom, Christopher Cerrone, Norman Chaitin, John Curran, Paul Dano, Guy Flatley, William Friedkin, Charles Hirsch, Chris Hodenfield, Tom Kane, Sally Kirkland, Tom Mardirosian, Eugenio Mira, Merle Molofsky, Harold Ramis, Roberta Sklar, Jonathan Taplin, Dyanne Thorne, and Larry Woiwode. I wish in particular to cite the contributions of Sandra Bernhard, Jerry Lewis, and Martin Scorsese, all of whom spoke to me some years ago when I was writing King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis and whose memories and impressions are as vital today as when they first shared them. Additional sources—or paths to them—were provided by Jay Cocks, Gerald Peary, Sheldon Renan, and Carrie Rickey. I’d like to acknowledge the help of Michael Millar in nosing through Manhattan real estate records. And I wish especially to thank Glenn Kenny for sharing an interview with Edward Norton that he conducted for his own book, “Robert De Niro: Anatomy of an Actor” (unpublished at the time of this writing).
When I began work on this project, I was in my last years of serving as film critic at the Oregonian, and I thank the newspaper and my editors and colleagues sincerely; for twenty-plus years I got to write about movies in a movie-mad city where people read the newspaper and took its content as the start of a (mostly civilized) conversation about film, art, and life; nobody ever had a better job than that. During the years I was working on De Niro—or should have been—I sustained my household coffers with projects edited by James Greenberg at DGA Quarterly and Tony Nourmand of Reel Arts Press; I thank them both.
At Crown I am grateful to John Glusman, who commissioned the book, and Dominick Anfuso, who has edited it. Likewise, I’m obliged to Sue Warga for careful copyediting and Amelia Zalcman for judicious legal oversight.
My deep, deep thanks go, as ever, to my agent, Richard Pine, and his staff at Inkwell Management, without whom I might well be asking you if you’d like to see a dessert menu rather than telling you all of this.
I have relied, often overly, on the brains, hearts, and shoulders of such friends and loved ones as Mary Bartholemy, Shannon Brazil, Chelsea Cain, Paul Carvelli, Marc Mohan, Lucretia Thornton, and Krista Walter, as well as untold numbers of the Timbers Army, and, as the dedication indicates, my sister, Jennifer, and her family, Jason, Harry, and Fanny Freeland. My mom, Mickie, left us while I was working on this book, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she isn’t its biggest fan.
For all that, nobody has done more to spur, inspire, and fulfill me than my children, Vincent, Anthony, and Paula, who mean far, far more than any book ever could.
Note: Citations marked “HRC” refer to materials from the Robert De Niro collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas; citations marked “HRC Schrader” refer to materials from the Paul Schrader collection at the Harry Ransom Center.
Chapter 1
1 “He asked about”: “Robert De Niro the Painter,” Jerry Tallmer, New York Post, December 4, 1976.
2 “I was at an art school”: “Same Name, Different Worlds,” Sidney Fields, New York Daily News, December 16, 1976.
3 “Sometimes he seems major”: “Student and Master,” David Cohn, New York Sun, January 20, 2005.
4 “The whole lunatic fringe”: Karen Christel Krahulik, Provincetown: From Pilgrim Landing to Gay Resort (New York: New York University Press, 2007), p. 134.
5 “Romping and bathing”: Rivers with Weinstein, What Did I Do?, 125.
6 “We couldn’t understand”: Ibid., 78.
7 “He was handsome”: “The Bohemian Life of Robert De Niro Senior,” Christopher Turner, Daily Telegraph, March 19, 2009.
8 “A painting can’t be”: “Same Name, Different Worlds.”
9 “This is our last nursery”: Robert Duncan: Drawings and Decorated Books (Berkeley, CA: Rose Books, 1992), p. 11.
10 “Virginia and her friends”: Nin, Diary, 2:247.
11 “The place is cold”: Ibid., 2:72.
12 “My role”: Bair, Anaïs Nin, 573.
13 “When I first met”: Fitch, Anaïs, 228.
14 “Virginia tells me”: Nin, Diary, 2:72.
15 “Virginia and De Niro”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro,” Paul Gardner, New York, May 16, 1977.
16 “I was working in the fishery”: “Robert De Niro the Painter.”
17 “Every Friday night”: Rivers with Weinstein, What Did I Do?, 126.
18 “I have been listening”: Bair, Anaïs Nin, 271.
19 “Bob was completely”: Nin, Diary, 2:128.
20 “Virginia stopped me”: Nin, Diary, 3:72.
21 “What she was doing then”: “Same Name, Different Worlds.”
Chapter 2
1 “Our standards”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s,” Jack Kroll, New York, May 16, 1977.
2 “important young artist”: The Nation, Clement Greenberg, May 18, 1946.
3 “Contemporary abstract art”: “Up from the Frenzy,” Newsweek, July 9, 1956.
4 “He is lean”: Ibid.
5 “He had these dank lofts”: “De Niro on De Niro,” Vogue, January 1995.
6 “When I was about five”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio,” Daily Beast, July 9, 2012.
7 “As a kid”: Daily Telegraph, March 19, 2009.
8 “tall, saturnine”: “Warhol and De Niro: Modesty Is the Best Policy,” Thomas B. Hess, New York, December 6, 1976.
9 “I didn’t know much”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
10 “Anyone he knew”: Kelly and Salander, eds., Robert De Niro Sr., 27.
11 “He had a temper”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
12 “fiercely engaged”: Hackett-Freedman Gallery, Robert De Niro Sr., 9.
13 “loneliest person”: Kelly and Salander, eds., Robert De Niro Sr., p. 27.
14 “He had the air”: Rivers with Weinstein, What Did I Do?, 127.
15 “a lonely soul”: Kelly and Salander, eds., Robert De Niro Sr., p. 27.
16 “Bob was a great dancer”: Rivers with Weinstein, What Did I Do?, 127.
17 “De Niro did not spend”: “Robert De Niro: The Painter’s Painter,” Sam Adams, Flighttime, January 1977.
18 “How nice”: Newsweek, July 9, 1956.
19 “Book after book”: “Robert De Niro Works on a Series of Pictures,” Eleanor C. Munro, ARTnews, May 1958.
20 “He liked to work”: Kelly and Salander, eds., Robert De Niro Sr., 19.
21 “He was becoming somebody”: Ibid.
22 “affectionate”: Daily Telegraph, March 9, 2009.
23 “He did take me”: “De Niro on De Niro.”
24 “He even tried to paint me”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
25 “I want to keep my life”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
26 “Will”: “The Shadow King,” Patricia Bosworth, Vanity Fair, October 1987.
27 “He was never coddled”: Ibid.
28 “Bobby was out”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
29 “Don’t picture me”: “Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro,” Lawrence Grobel, Playboy, January 1989.
30 “I was very nervous”: Ibid.
31 “We used to roller-skate”: “What I’ve Learned: Robert De Niro,” Esquire, January 2003.
32 “It wasn’t anything serious”: “Robert De Niro on Becoming the Quintessential Family Man,” Chris Ayres, Times (London), February 2, 2010.
33 “You better not say”: “Look—Bobby’s Slipping into Brando’s Shoes,” Guy Flatley, New York Times, November 4, 1973.
34 “Some of them”: “Robert De Niro on Becoming the Quintessential Family Man.”
35 “I would see him”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
36 “Most people I knew”: Ibid.
37 “Among the many who courted”: Rivers with Weinstein, What Did I Do?, 126.
38 “Do you remember me”: “What’s Robert De Niro Hiding?,” Marie Brenner, Redbook, May 1977.
39 “I had a bad high school scene”: “Robert De Niro: He Had to Play Ball,” Tom Topor, New York Post, August 25, 1973.
40 “His idea of high school”: “The Quiet Chameleon,” Richard Schickel, Time, January 27, 1975.
41 “I went in”: “What I’ve Learned: Robert De Niro.”
42 “They had so many students”: “Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”
43 “You figured the kids”: “A Walk and a Talk with Robert De Niro,” Peter Brant and Ingrid Sischy, Interview, November 1993.
44 “When I was around 18”: “De Niro,” A. O. Scott, New York Times, November 18, 2012.
Chapter 3
1 “He showed up”: Hackett-Freedman Gallery, Robert De Niro Sr.
2 “there was a certain wall”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
3 “I hitchhiked from Dublin”: “De Niro’s Irish Hike,” Debbie McGoldrick, Cara, September 2007.
4 “I made him a sign”: “The De Niro ‘Passione,’ ” Christopher Sharp, Women’s Wear Daily, June 30, 1980.
5 “It was just a way”: “Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”
6 “It was an exciting time”: “Robert De Niro Can Do No Wrong,” Lee Child, Parade, November 8, 2009. Emphasis added.
7 “I think disciplined”: “De Niro Talks!,” Samir Hachem, Hollywood Drama-Logue, May 22, 1980.
8 “I was the star”: “An Actor’s Schedule Leaves No Time to Star,” Robin Finn, New York Times, August 16, 2000.
9 “How she behaved”: “Robert De Niro: ‘I’m Prone to Overanalysis,’ ” Sheana Ochoa, Salon, March 16, 2012.
10 “I was afraid”: “New York, New York: Martin Scorsese’s Back-Lot Sonata,” Chris Hodenfeld, Rolling Stone, June 16, 1977.
11 “I never expected”: Kelly and Salander, eds., Robert De Niro Sr., p. 42.
12 “his ‘erratic’ behavior”: Ibid., 27.
13 “He didn’t have a breakdown”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
14 “Larry was serious”: Author interview.
15 “He seems oblivious”: Woiwode, What I Think I Did, 197.
16 “He’s out to please”: Ibid.
17 “I had seen an advertisement”: Wolfgang Wilke, “De Niro in Moscow,” The Face, December 1987.
18 “He was very mild”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
19 “I thought I was getting”: “De Niro in Moscow.”
20 “There was a teacher”: “Robert De Niro: ‘I’m Prone to Overanalysis.’ ”
21 “Have certain things”: HRC.
22 “I have a disrespect”: HRC.
23 “Your dad gave it”: Woiwode, What I Think I Did, 269.
24 “I eventually convinced him”: “Robert De Niro on His Father’s Art Studio.”
25 “If they didn’t fall”: Woiwode, What I Think I Did, 298.
26 “tall and heavyset”: Ibid., 299.
Chapter 4
1 “I had an optimistic”: Time, unpublished background notes, June 2, 1977.
2 “He had a portfolio”: “What’s Robert De Niro Hiding?”
3 “I’m Bob De Niro”: “The Shadow King.”
4 “I remember a bunch”: “Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”
5 “The actors weren’t paid”: Author interview.
6 “They shot a scene of me”: Author interview.
7 “I had years”: “De Niro,” Schruers.
8 “I did not have a Plan B”: “Robert De Niro Can Do No Wrong.”
9 “I got my first jobs”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
10 “The most expensive thing”: “De Palma à la Mod,” Geoff Beran, www.angelfire.com/de/palma/interviewparis.html, February 26, 2002.
11 “It was all ad-lib”: “Maximum Expression,” Barry Paris, American Film, October 1989.
12 “He showed up to shoot”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”
13 “He was electrifying”: “The Shadow King.”
14 “When he moved”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
15 “I’m Bobby’s Italian mama”: “Look—Bobby’s Slipping into Brando’s Shoes.”
16 “When walking always looking”: HRC.
Chapter 5
1 “I don’t even know all of you”: “Look—Bobby’s Slipping into Brando’s Shoes.”
2 “blow nose with finger”: HRC.
3 “I thought he was concentrating”: “The Shadow King.”
4 “You have a marvelous”: HRC.
5 “help the actors”: “Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”
6 “Roger is brief”: HRC.
7 “As an actress”: “Off Broadway Actors Go on Strike,” Louis Calta, New York Times, November 17, 1970.
8 “I’ve been clobbered”: “Shelley: ‘I’m Bloody but Unbowed,’ ” Guy Flatley, New York Times, January 17, 1971.
9 “Bobby was acclaimed”: Winters, Shelley II, 302.
10 “You’re talking to the commission”: HRC.
11 “Attitude: always cocky”: HRC.
12 “I make believe I don’t see”: HRC.
13 “He told me, ‘I’m casting’ ”: Author interview.
14 “I had a real problem”: Author interview.
15 “They must’ve had a fight”: Author interview.
Chapter 6
1 “I said to him”: “The Shadow King.”
2 “I didn’t really know him”: Kelly, Martin Scorsese, 72.
3 “I read for John Hancock”: Time, unpublished background notes, June 2, 1977.
4 “I saw in every baseball game”: “Dialogue on Film: Robert De Niro,” American Film, March 1981.
5 “I used to think”: “Stardom’s Drums Banging for Robert De Niro,” Richard Cuskelly, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, August 12, 1973.
6 “I told him to read”: “Jim Bouton Bangs the Drum Loudly,” Jim Bouton, New York Times, September 30, 1973.
7 “I went down to Florida”: “Robert De Niro: He Had to Play Ball.”
8 “I wanted to listen”: “Stardom’s Drums Banging for Robert De Niro.”
9 “I tried mixing”: Ibid.
10 “to show what’s unlikeable”: HRC.
11 “I didn’t try to play dumb”: “Robert De Niro: He Had to Play Ball.”
12 “He used stupid eyes”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”
13 “I watched Bob”: “Robert De Niro—The Return of the Silent Film Star,” Susan Braudy, New York Times, March 6, 1977.
14 “He has death”: HRC.
15 “He’s an immigrant”: “Colleagues Say De Niro Has No Peer,” New York Times, March 11, 1991.
16 “You just spent a whole year”: Thompson and Christie, eds., Scorsese on Scorsese, 38.
17 “For a long time”: Ibid., 9.
18 “I always looked”: Kelly, Martin Scorsese, 23.
19 “The first version of the script”: Ibid., 71.
20 “Sandy had heard”: “Spirit in the ‘Streets,’ ” Stuart Byron, Real Paper (Boston), November 28, 1973.
21 “One is the guilt-ridden”: Rolling Stone, June 16, 1977.
22 “ ‘If you want to make Mean Streets”: Thompson and Christie, eds., Scorsese on Scorsese, 39.
23 “He’d already been cast”: “A Walk and a Talk with Robert De Niro.”
24 “I had never seen Bobby act”: “Robert De Niro—Private, Professional, a Male Greta Garbo,” W, July 11, 1975.
25 “Bobby and I were as close”: “The Shadow King.”
26 “Marty: I think (know)”: HRC.
27 “I aspire to be”: HRC.
28 “The neighborhood was just a sea”: Mean Streets production notes.
29 “They had got on each other’s nerves”: Thompson and Christie, eds., Scorsese on Scorsese, 43
.
30 “Literary reference”: “Spirit in the ‘Streets.’ ”
31 “immediately, he put him”: Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, 246.
Chapter 7
1 “Everybody tested”: “A Walk and a Talk with Robert De Niro.”
2 “I thought he was very magnetic”: Lebo, The Godfather Legacy, 221.
3 “It kept rolling”: Ibid.
4 “De Niro’s assignment”: The Godfather, Part II production notes.
5 “Sicilian is something else”: “Actor,” Bob Thomas, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 2, 1975.
6 “I was always up front”: The Godfather, Part II production notes.
7 “When I went into a bar”: “Actor.”
8 “If you’d asked me”: The Godfather, Part II production notes.
9 “The people are very”: The Godfather, Part II production notes.
10 “Never show how”: HRC.
11 “There’s a peasant”: “Robert De Niro: He Had to Play Ball.”
12 “lead a little”: HRC.
13 “It’s like being”: The Godfather, Part II production notes.
14 “an attitude of just about”: HRC.
15 “I watched the tape”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”
16 “The slicked-down hair”: “Actor.”
17 “He wanted to do one scene”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”
18 “earned the right”: “Look—Bobby’s Slipping into Brando’s Shoes.”
19 “Guinness isn’t a personality”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
20 “ ‘Well …’ a long silence”: “Robert De Niro: He Had to Play Ball.”
21 “We were both at a party”: author interview.
22 “Listen, let’s put it this way”: “Look—Bobby’s Slipping into Brando’s Shoes.”
23 “Why do people want to know”: “It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”
24 “After I give an interview”: “De Niro: The Phantom of the Cinema,” Time, July 25, 1977.
25 “He picked these incredibly”: Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, 248.
26 “I gave a Thanksgiving”: “De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”
27 “When I met him”: “Amo, Amas, Abbott,” Hilton Als, Details, November 1986.