The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced Robert De Niro as the recipient of the 44th Chaplin Award. The award will be presented in at an award gala on Monday, May 8, 2017. Prior to the presentation of the award, the event will celebrate De Niro’s four decade-long career, as well as his championing of independent film thorugh the Tribeca Film Festival.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor the artistry of Robert De Niro, a hometown icon,” said Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman. “His portrayal of New York characters has helped define this city for the entire world.”
“De Niro has long been such a legendary presence that one can overlook the remarkably fine-tuned craft and quality he has brought to his roles over his multi-decade career,” said Lesli Klainberg, the Executive Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. “If you watch his performances, from Mean Streets and The Godfather Part II to Raging Bull and Awakenings and on to his more recent work in such films as Silver Linings Playbook, you see a dramatic range and unwavering commitment to his work.”
De Niro has received numerous accolades over his career, including the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1974, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather Part II in 1975, and the Oscar for Best Actor in 1980 for playing Jake La Motta in Scorsese’s Raging Bull. He has been nominated for five additional Academy Awards, in 2009 was honored by the Kennedy Center, he received the Hollywood Actor Award from the Hollywood Film Festival in 2012, the Stanley Kubrick Award from the BAFTA Britannia Awards, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. He also served as the jury president of the 64th Cannes Film Festival.
The Film Society’s annual gala began in 1972, honoring Charlie Chaplin, who returned to the U.S. from exile to accept the commendation. Other past recipients include Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, and, last year, Morgan Freeman.
