For more than 50 years, Robert De Niro has put his heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into the entertainment industry. As a young boy, De Niro had a knack for acting and taking on eccentric roles, but it was not until he met Martin Scorsese that his acting skills would really shine through. Just one year after doing Mean Streets with Scorsese, De Niro was cast as the cutthroat Italian gangster Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II. Little did De Niro know at the time that this role — for which he won his first Academy Award — would define his future.