Joe Pesci Wonderful" (1982), "Easy Money" (1983) and "Eureka" (1983). In 1984, he was cast in "Once Upon a Time in America", again appearing alongside De Niro. The following year he starred as private detective Rocky Nelson in the short-lived television comedy series "Half Nelson". In 1988, Pesci appeared in the Michael Jackson musical anthology film "Moonwalker", in the film's sixth and longest segment, "Smooth Criminal." He played the antagonist, crime boss Frankie "Mr. Big" LiDeo (an anagram for one of the film's producers and longtime Jackson manager Frank DiLeo, with whom Pesci later acted in "Goodfellas"). He appeared as Leo Getz,
Robert De Niro Sr. Robert De Niro Sr. Robert Henry De Niro (May 3, 1922 – May 3, 1993), better known as Robert De Niro Sr., was an American abstract expressionist painter and the father of actor Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro Sr. was born in Syracuse, New York, to an Italian-American father, Henry Martin De Niro (1897–1976), whose parents emigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and an Irish-American mother, Helen M. (née O'Reilly; 1899–1999). He was the eldest of three children; he and siblings John and Joan were raised in Syracuse, New York. De Niro studied at the renowned