Robert De Niro's 80th birthday: His 11 best films

Director Martin Scorsese put the young actor Robert de Niro in front of the camera for his third movie, "Mean Streets." De Niro had already picked up a few other roles, but the drama about a young New York gangster marked his artistic breakthrough. The film was the beginning of a long and very successful collaboration between the two men.

The following year, director Francis Ford Coppola offered De Niro a part in the sequel to his hit movie "The Godfather." Taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he stepped into Marlon Brando's shoes. Brando, who shone in the first film as gangster boss Vito Corleone, was long considered Hollywood's best actor. De Niro displaced him — both as the Godfather and as "best actor."

European directors also became aware of the young actor's prodigious acting ability. Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci hired De Niro for his five-hour epic "1900," which chronicled the lives of two men during Italy's 20th century struggle between fascism and communism. The New Yorker's charisma shone here (at right) alongside international stars such as Donald Sutherland and Gerard Depardieu.

"1900" was immediately followed by the film that was to burn itself into the hearts and minds of millions of film fans all over the world: Scorsese's "Taxi Driver." De Niro's performance as a lonely and increasingly violent New York taxi driver is today considered one of the most legendary appearances of an actor in American cinema history.

One year later, in the musical drama "New York, New York," Scorsese gave De Niro the chance to show that he could play roles other than gangsters and outcasts. His leading-man appearance as a saxophonist opposite Liza Minnelli gave an inkling as to where the actor's career would later end up, in a number of humorous and even tenderhearted roles.

In those early years, De Niro put his distinctive stamp on dramatic roles. Many of his performances from that time were clearly the best of his career. De Niro was totally convincing as a tortured and harassed US soldier in "The Deer Hunter," a Vietnam drama that posed questions about the pointlessness of violence.

The following year, De Niro picked up his first best actor Oscar for "Raging Bull," another Scorsese drama. His depiction of the violent and jealous boxer Jake LaMotta was hailed by critics for superbly bringing out the many sides of the character. He even gained 60 pounds (27 kilograms) for the role.

Half a decade later, it was once again an Italian director who helped De Niro reach new heights. Alongside James Woods in Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America," De Niro won wide praise for his portrayal of a petty criminal who rises to become a gangster boss through alcohol smuggling.

Having indulged in some lighter roles, De Niro reset his acting career in the mid-1990s. Once again, his old friend Martin Scorsese called on his talents, this time in "Casino," the epochal mafia film. And once again, De Niro's knack for being convincing as both a brutal gangster and family man shone through.

Immediately afterwards, director Michael Mann united De Niro (right) and Al Pacino, another legendary actor, in his thriller "Heat." The pair complemented each other wonderfully. Once again cast as the gangster, De Niro delivered a gripping battle for honor and ethos with Pacino playing the homicide detective. The result was a real treat for fans of sophisticated American cinema.

2019 saw the release of "The Irishman," the first feature-length collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro in 24 years. Co-starring with Joe Pesci, Al Pacino (left) and Harvey Keitel, De Niro (right) plays a contract killer. The film tells its story mainly in flashbacks and is thus also a kind of retrospective of a magnificent career. It was a hit among both fans and critics.