The King of Comedy (film) of Comedy" even more dangerous than "Taxi Driver" because of its lack of blood and the fact that viewers could easily identify with De Niro. In a documentary featured in the first DVD release of the film, Scorsese himself acknowledged the connection between the two characters: ""Taxi Driver". Travis. Rupert. The isolated person. Is Rupert more violent than Travis? Maybe." The King of Comedy (film) The King of Comedy is a 1982 American satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard. Written by Paul D. Zimmerman, the film focuses on
Robert De Niro Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film "Raging Bull". De Niro's first major film roles were in the sports drama "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973) and Scorsese's crime film "Mean Streets" (1973). He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers "Taxi Driver" (1976) and "Cape Fear" (1991), both directed by Scorsese. De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Cimino's Vietnam war drama "The Deer Hunter" (1978), Penny Marshall's drama "Awakenings" (1990), and David O. Russell's romantic comedy-drama "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012). His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway