Robert de niro father gay
Actor Robert De Niro opens up about his tardy, openly gay father in an upcoming HBO documentary, whom he tearfully recalls as “very loving.”
The disguised family fact comes to light in Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro Sr., which premieres June 9.
Although De Niro Sr. never hid his sexual orientation, the fact he was gay was not well known outside of his own circle of family and friends. In a way, his son has come out for him.
In an interview with Out Magazine’s Jerry Portwood, posted online on Tuesday, the 70-year-old De Niro said he felt he had to talk publicly about his father’s sexuality.
“I felt obligated. It was my responsibility to build a documentary about him,” he said. “I was always planning on doing it, but never did . . . It was just something I wanted to do.”
The documentary includes footage from the ’70s of the senior De Niro, who died 20 years ago of cancer.
It’s clear that the artist father is a very emotional topic for the actor son. He begins to cry when Portwood asked him about being named after his father, and how it feels to become more famous than the person he’s named for.
“I acquire emotional. I don’t comprehend why,” he says.
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Robert De Niro Honors His Late Father in New Documentary
Jan. 22, 2013 — -- Robert De Niro seldom talks about his personal life.
But the Oscar winner, 70, is now revealing intimate details about his late father, who was a same-sex attracted artist.
"Remembering the Designer Robert De Niro Sr." is an HBO documentary about the actor's father and even reads passages from his father's journals, which detail how he left the "Godfather" star's mother after he realized he was gay, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The movie is shot through the actor's point of view.
De Niro Sr. was part of post-World War II painters based in New York during the 1950's. His art lost popularity in the 1960's when pop art became all the rage. The performer even explains his father's depression in the film over his art's failures.
"I did this for him," De Niro said. "I wanted my younger kids -- who were born after he died -- to know what their grandfather did. I even kept his painting studio intact so they could see it."
The documentary was screened this week at the Sundance Film Festival and airs on HBO in June.
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Robert De Niro is opening up about his late father Robert De Niro Sr., who was a NYC painter and just happened to be openly gay.
In a exposing new interview with Out magazine, the Oscar winner talks about making a documentary to showcase all of his dad's artwork and shed light on his legacy.
"I felt I had to. I felt obligated," De Niro says of the movie, which is called 'Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr.' and airs on HBO Jun. 9. "It was my responsibility to make a documentary about him. I was always planning on doing it, but never did. Then Jane Rosenthal, my partner at Tribeca [Enterprises], said, 'We should commence doing that now.' It was not intended to be on HBO. It was just something I wanted to do."
PICS: Same-sex celeb couples
In the documentary, it's revealed that De Niro's father felt somewhat conflicted about his homosexuality.
"Yeah, he probably was, being from that generation, especially from a small town upstate," the 70-year-old actor says. "I was not conscious, much, of it. I wish we had spoken about it much more. My mother didn't want to discuss about things in general, and you're not interested when you're a certain age. Again, for my kids, I want them to s
Robert De Niro About his gay son
Robert De Niro has spoken about his homosexual son’s experience of Trump’s America in a new interview.
The iconic actor revealed the two consider his child’s ‘worries’ about existence treated a certain way in the current political climate
Speaking to The Guardian, De Niro said: ‘Yeah, I worry, and one of my kids is queer, and he worries about creature treated a certain way. We talk about it.’
Double Oscar winner De Niro has starred in films like Taxi Driver and The Godfather.
‘He just got worse’
De Niro did not clarify which of his four sons is gay. He has six mixed-race children, including two daughters, in total.
The iconic actor has previously revealed his late father, Robert De Niro Sr., was queer. He revealed in the 2014 documentary Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr that he never discussed his father’s sexuality with him.
He said in the film: ‘Obviously, I realize now that it was hard for him.’
The star furthermore continued: ‘He had a lot of classic conflicts about all of that. … I’m his son,
Robert De Niro is opening up about his late father Robert De Niro Sr., who was a NYC painter and just happened to be openly gay.
In a exposing new interview with Out magazine, the Oscar winner talks about making a documentary to showcase all of his dad's artwork and shed light on his legacy.
"I felt I had to. I felt obligated," De Niro says of the movie, which is called 'Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr.' and airs on HBO Jun. 9. "It was my responsibility to make a documentary about him. I was always planning on doing it, but never did. Then Jane Rosenthal, my partner at Tribeca [Enterprises], said, 'We should commence doing that now.' It was not intended to be on HBO. It was just something I wanted to do."
PICS: Same-sex celeb couples
In the documentary, it's revealed that De Niro's father felt somewhat conflicted about his homosexuality.
"Yeah, he probably was, being from that generation, especially from a small town upstate," the 70-year-old actor says. "I was not conscious, much, of it. I wish we had spoken about it much more. My mother didn't want to discuss about things in general, and you're not interested when you're a certain age. Again, for my kids, I want them to s
Robert De Niro About his gay son
Robert De Niro has spoken about his homosexual son’s experience of Trump’s America in a new interview.
The iconic actor revealed the two consider his child’s ‘worries’ about existence treated a certain way in the current political climate
Speaking to The Guardian, De Niro said: ‘Yeah, I worry, and one of my kids is queer, and he worries about creature treated a certain way. We talk about it.’
Double Oscar winner De Niro has starred in films like Taxi Driver and The Godfather.
‘He just got worse’
De Niro did not clarify which of his four sons is gay. He has six mixed-race children, including two daughters, in total.
The iconic actor has previously revealed his late father, Robert De Niro Sr., was queer. He revealed in the 2014 documentary Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr that he never discussed his father’s sexuality with him.
He said in the film: ‘Obviously, I realize now that it was hard for him.’
The star furthermore continued: ‘He had a lot of classic conflicts about all of that. … I’m his son,