Robert De Niro De Niro went on to have a successful working relationship with him in films such as "Taxi Driver" (1976), "New York, New York" (1977), "Raging Bull" (1980), "The King of Comedy" (1983), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Cape Fear" (1991), and "Casino" (1995). They also acted together in "Guilty by Suspicion" (1991) and provided their voices for the animated feature "Shark Tale" (2004). "Taxi Driver" was particularly important to De Niro's career. His iconic performance as Travis Bickle catapulted him to stardom and forever linked his name with Bickle's famous "You talkin' to me?" monologue, which De Niro largely improvised. The role of
Robert De Niro Bickle earned him his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. His portrayal of Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" was lauded, as well as his interpretation of Max Cady in "Cape Fear". In 1976, De Niro appeared in "1900", Bernardo Bertolucci's biographical exploration of life in Italy before World War II, seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends at the opposite sides of society's hierarchy. He also starred in "The Last Tycoon" (1976), directed by Elia Kazan. Kazan recalls that De Niro "would do almost anything to succeed" and noted that he cut his weight down from 170