Robert De Niro necessary to elicit the best performance from those with whom he is working. During the filming of "The King of Comedy", he directed a slew of anti-Semitic epithets at co-star Jerry Lewis to enhance and authenticate the anger demonstrated by Lewis' character. According to "People" magazine, the technique was successful, with Lewis recalling, "I forgot the cameras were there... I was going for Bobby's throat." De Niro married his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, in 1976. They have a son, Raphael, a former actor who works in New York real estate. De Niro also adopted Abbott's daughter Drena De Niro from
The Gambler (1974 film) Freed, although obviously different from the character De Niro would have created," wrote Toback later. It was filmed at a time when leading actor James Caan was battling his own addiction to cocaine. Caan says the film is one of his favorites. "It's not easy to make people care about a guy who steals from his mother to pay gambling debts." Some see the film as a loose adaptation of the short novel "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In August 2011, Paramount Pictures announced a remake of the 1974 film "The Gambler" with the original producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert