Martin Scorsese Biography
Martin Scorsese (1942 - ) was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families were both originally from Palermo. He grew up in the Little Italy neighborhood, which later provided the inspiration for many of his films. Scorsese earned a BS degree in motion picture communications in 1964, followed by an MA in the same field in 1966 from New York University's School of Film. During this period, he made numerous award-winning short films including The Big Shave (1967) and directed his first feature film, I Call First (1967). He served as assistant director and editor on the documentary Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music (1970) and won critical and popular acclaim for Mean Streets (1973), which paired him with the actor for the first time and frequent collaborator Robert De Niro. In 1976, Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), also starring De Niro, received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and that film was followed by New York, New York (1977) and The Last Waltz (1978). Scorsese directed De Niro in an Oscar-winning performance as boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980), which received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is hailed as one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. His long-loved project, Gangs of New York (2002), earned numerous critical accolades, including a Golden Globe for Best Director; the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator (2004) won five Academy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Film. Scorsese won his first Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed (2006), which was also honored with Director's Guild of America, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics, National Board of Review, and Critic's Choice awards for Best Director , as well as four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Scorsese's documentary about the Rolling Stones in concert, Rolling Stones: Shine a Light (2008), followed, with the hit thriller Shutter Island (2010) two years later. Scorsese received his seventh Academy Award nomination for Best Director, as well as a Golden Globe, for Hugo (2011), which went on to win five Academy Awards. Scorsese is also an executive producer on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010) for which he directed the pilot episode. Scorsese's other awards and honors include the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion (1995), the AFI Life Achievement Award (1997), the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Honor at 25th Gala Tribute (1998), the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award (2003), the Kennedy Center Honors (2007), and the HFPA Cecil B. DeMille Award (2010).
