martin

MARTIN SCORSESE has been one of America's most critically acclaimed filmmakers for more than 20 years, and he achieved cinematic success with movies that reflect his own Italian-American Catholic upbringing

Scorsese was an asthmatic youngster who spent a great deal of time in movie theaters. He was studying to become a priest, but dropped out of the seminary after his first year, and eventually landed at N.Y.U. film school.

He made several well-received student shorts, including It's Not Just You, Murray, his first gangster movie, and Who's That Knocking at My Door, which starred a young Harvey Keitel

In 1976, Scorsese made another influential, controversial film called Taxi Driver, which starred De Niro as a psychotic, lonely cabbie in New York City and Jodie Foster as a child prostitute. The film won the coveted Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm award.Taxi Driver supposedly drove John Hinckley Jr. to try to assassinate Ronald Reagan

Scorsese's finest work from his early period has to be Raging Bull (1980). Filmed in stark black-and-white, the film was based on the rise and fall of boxing champion Jake LaMotta and contained the performance of a lifetime by De Niro . Raging Bull earned an Oscar for De Niro and nominations for Best Film and Director.

1990 burst with GoodFellas, a stunning portrait of the lifestyle of gangsters in America. The film starred Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Joe Pesci (who won an Oscar), and De Niro. It is still considered the most realistic gangster film ever made, even by real-life mobsters

Marty also completed his gangster trilogy with 1995's Casino, a true crime tale set in Vegas once again starring De Niro, Pesci and the justly nominated Sharon Stone. From the fantastic sets, rich dialogue, and unapologetic violence to the well-portrayed characters and themes of loyalty and betrayal Casino is pure Scorsese.

His next project will be The Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio, Set in the period from 1846 to 1863, this is the story of how Irish and Italian gangs (and subsequently, the Mafia) got started in New York City. Due for relase 25 December 2002.

Occupation-	Director, Producer, Screenwriter
D.O.B-	17 November 1942
Birth Place-	Flushing, New York.
Education-	D B.A. English, New York University, 1964 M.A. Film, New York University, 1966