Martin Scorsese

(December 19, 1996) Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun , which Scorsese directed.

Awarded third annual John Huston Award for Artists Rights by the Artists Rights Foundation.

Presented with a special tribute at the 1976 Telluride Film Festival. It was presented by Michael Powell.

Is a longtime friend and was once a housemate of The Band s Robbie Robertson. He directed The Last Waltz , the documentary of their supposedly last gig which Robertson produced. Robertson later produced the soundtrack for Scorseses The Color of Money .

Good friends with editor Thelma Schoonmaker and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Scorsese introduced Thelma to her husband Michael Powell and he often quotes Powell as an influence.

His name is pronounced "Scor-sez-see".

He directed Michael Jackson s music video Michael Jackson: Bad . The full length video runs 16 minutes and is in both black and white and color. It is usually shortened down to just the color segment for television.

He appears as attached to his pet white Bichon Frise Zoe as he was to his beloved parents - except Zoe is right beside Marty every day in the office.

Has one daughter with Helen Morris : Francesca Scorsese. Has one daughter with Julia Cameron : Domenica Cameron-Scorsese.

John Woo dedicated his action film Dip huet seung hung to Scorsese on a commentary he did for the movies DVD.

Taught both Oliver Stone and Spike Lee at New York University.

Was at one point going to make a movie about the life of comedian Richard Pryor.

He was an altar boy at Old St. Patricks Cathedral, which was used in his early films I Call First and Mean Streets . Old St. Patricks is also where the baptism scene in The Godfather took place.

Was at one point slated to direct Clockers , but for reasons that are not entirely clear, handed the directing chores to his onetime NYU student Spike Lee , while staying on as producer. He was also at one point going to direct Little Shop of Horrors for David Geffen , with Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. He was ultimately uninvolved, but claims that he wanted to shoot the movie in 3-D. It no doubt would have been a loving homage to Roger Corman , for whom he directed Boxcar Bertha .

He took a cameo in his film Taxi Driver (as a man about to kill his wife) only because the actor who was supposed to play the role was sick on the day the scene was to be shot. Says he is generally uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Has a dog named Silas.

Is the subject of the song "Martin Scorsese" by the alternative band King Missile.

Father of actress Cathy Scorsese with Laraine Marie Brennan.

Is of Italian-Sicilian descent.

Has asthma.

Of the three films he has been trying to make since the mid-1970s, he has done two: The Last Temptation of Christ and Gangs of New York . The third film, a biopic of Dean Martin called "Dino", has been on hiatus at Warner Brothers since the late 1990s. Scorsese has a very specific all A-list cast in mind, probably why this has yet to be produced. He wants Tom Hanks to star as Martin, Jim Carrey to play Jerry Lewis , John Travolta to play Frank Sinatra , Hugh Grant to play Peter Lawford , and Adam Sandler to play Joey Bishop.

Was voted the fourth greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the only living person in the top 5 and the only working film director in the top 10 (Ingmar Bergman being retired as a filmmaker).

Has appeared on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as a shrill version of himself who comes to regret his decision to cast Larry David as a violent gangster in a movie after David repeatedly ruins the suit he needs to wear as the character.

Several characters in his films refer to the legendary (noir) actor John Garfield , star of the original film The Postman Always Rings Twice , which is also mentioned.

He was one of three major directors to have been offered the opportunity to direct Schindlers List by producer Steven Spielberg , the other two being Roman Polanski and Billy Wilder. Scorsese thought a Jewish filmmaker should direct this; Polanski was not yet ready to deal with the painful subject (having lost his mother in the Holocaust); and Wilder (who was retired and who lost his mother and grandmother in the Holocaust) finally told Spielberg that he should do this himself.

Because so many of his actors win or are nominated for awards, actors are dying to work with him. The film With Friends Like These... pokes fun at this very real desire.

Both The Last Temptation of Christ and Gangs of New York were personal passions of his that he had wanted to make since the 1970s. When he first starting considering them, Robert De Niro was in his mind to play the lead characters in both (Jesus Christ in "Temptation" and Bill Cutting in "Gangs"). De Niro ultimately turned down the role in "Temptation" and this was decided he was too old to play Cutting by the time that "Gangs" finally went into production.

Has famously collaborated with Robert De Niro in eight films. Scorsese has said that his creative collaboration with De Niro is very deep and that they can often understand each other without even talking. Their collaboration has had many dry spells (including recently), but Scorsese says he shows almost every script he writes or considers directing to De Niro to see what the actors thoughts on them are even when De Niro ultimately has no involvement in the film.

Has appeared in an "American Express" ad where he goes to pick up photos of his nephews birthday party at a drug store, and then proceeds to nervously pick through whats wrong with each picture while trying to get the clueless photo-lab clerks opinion on them. He proceeds to buy more film with an American Express card and calls the people on the pictures saying they need to reshoot. Scorsese says this funny ad is probably the closest hes come to accurately "playing" himself.

Apart from his legendary work as a filmmaker, he has been a vocal supporter of film preservation for almost three decades. His efforts to create a strong public awareness for the work of film archives include The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation which he started together with other filmmakers. The Film Foundation regularly partners with the American film archives on the restoration of "lost" or endangered films. With this background he has agreed to serve as Honorary President of the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna.

Personally spurns the notion of the "directors cut" feeling that once a film has been completed, this should not be further altered in any way.

He lost three best director - and best picture - Oscars to leading-man actors turned directors: Robert Redford , Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood ( Raging Bull lost to Redfords Ordinary People ; Goodfellas to Costners Dances with Wolves ; The Aviator to Eastwoods Million Dollar Baby ). On the only two occasions when he was Oscar-nominated as Best Director in years ending in zero, he was beaten by actors making their directorial debuts (Redford and Costner). In similar circumstance, has lost two times the Best Director Oscar to directors who act occasionally. Nominations came from Gangs of New York (lost out to trained actor Roman Polanski in The Pianist ) and The Last Temptation of Christ (lost to Barry Levinson for Rain Man ).

In 1975, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" on behalf of Ellen Burstyn , who wasnt present at the awards ceremony. She won for her performance in Scorseses Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.

Has mentioned that he thought Robert De Niro s best performance under his direction was as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy .

Ranked #3 in Empire magazines "The Greatest directors ever!".

His favorite films include: Citizen Kane , The Red Shoes and Il gattopardo .

Was friend, protg, and employee of actor-director John Cassavetes.

When asked where audiences would find the next Martin Scorsese , he said to look to Wes Anderson , the young director of Rushmore .

As of 2013, has directed seven biopics: Raging Bull , The Last Temptation of Christ , Goodfellas , Casino , Kundun , The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street .

He received a Degree ad honorem in "Cinema, TV and Multimedia Production" from the University of Bologna on November 26, 2005.

Served as mentor to Georgia Lee and invited her to apprentice for Gangs of New York in Europe.

The 1912 American Mutoscope & Biograph Company short The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) heavily influenced Scorsese in the making of his own gangster films Goodfellas , and Gangs of New York . The film was picked by Scorcese for his 2005 tribute at Beaubourg, centre dart et de culture Georges Pompidou in Paris, France. Biograph is the oldest movie company in America and in existence today, headed by producer/director Thomas R. Bond II.

Scorsese and Taxi Driver are, among others, named as inspiration for the Massive Attack debut "Blue Lines".

(November 2006) He signed a four-year, first-look deal to develop projects with studio executives of Paramount Pictures.

The Wolf of Wall Street is the highest-grossing movie of his 47-year career with a worldwide gross of $389,600,694.

The Aviator was his first movie to gross over $100 million in the United States.

Has worked with big names of music business: Elvis Presley , Bob Dylan , Jimi Hendrix , The Rolling Stones , U2 , Michael Jackson and David Bowie.

Directed 18 different actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jodie Foster , Robert De Niro (three times), Joe Pesci (twice), Leonardo DiCaprio (twice), Daniel Day-Lewis , Cate Blanchett , Winona Ryder , Ellen Burstyn , Sharon Stone , Diane Ladd , Cathy Moriarty , Juliette Lewis , Lorraine Bracco , Paul Newman , Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , Alan Alda , Mark Wahlberg and Jonah Hill. Burstyn, De Niro, Newman, Pesci and Blanchett won Oscars for their roles in one of Scorseses movies.

When he won his Best Director Oscar for The Departed , he received the award from legendary directors, George Lucas , Francis Ford Coppola , and Steven Spielberg. The four were part of the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s and combined have nine Academy Awards and 38 nominations.

As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell s The Tales of Hoffmann from a store that only had one copy of the reels. When this was not available the owner told him, "that Romero kid has it", referring to George A. Romero who was also a huge fan of the film. Today, both directors cite the film as a major influence.

Says he was happy with the fact that it took so long for him to win Best Director, because if he had won it earlier, it would have affected his directing and films.

Recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients that year were Leon Fleisher , Steve Martin , Diana Ross and Brian Wilson.

Says the only thing he regrets in his career is that he was only able to make The Last Temptation of Christ on a small budget although he imagined it to be a grand version.

Was originally going to direct The Honeymoon Killers , but was replaced after a week of shooting.

Served as a guest critic on "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" following the death of Gene Siskel. The episode was "The Best Films of the 90s" in which Roger Ebert cited Scorseses Goodfellas as one of the best films of the 1990s (#3). Scorseses full list of his favorite films of the 1990s: 10.) Tie: Malcolm X and Heat , 9.) Fargo , 8.) Crash , 7.) Bottle Rocket , 6.) Breaking the Waves , 5.) Bad Lieutenant , 4.) Eyes Wide Shut , 3.) Duo sang , 2.) The Thin Red Line , 1.) Dao ma zei .

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Resides in New York City. His production offices are located on West 57th Street in Manhattan.

Attended Cardinal Hayes high school in the Bronx as a young man. Fellow alumni included George Carlin , George Dzundza , Regis Philbin , Jamal Mashburn and Don DeLillo.

Is a huge fan of the British Hammer Films series.

Is a huge fan of "Fawlty Towers" . He describes the episode, "Fawlty Towers" {The Germans } , as "so tasteless, its hilarious".

In the fifth edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), seven of Scorseses films are listed: Mean Streets , Taxi Driver , Raging Bull , The King of Comedy , Goodfellas , Casino and The Departed .

Haig Manoogian was Scorseses mentor at NYU. He eventually produced Scorseses first film ( I Call First ) and when he died in 1980, Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull to Manoogian.

Roger Ebert is a great admirer of Scorseses work. 14 of Scorseses films were given four stars by Ebert ( Mean Streets , Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore , Taxi Driver , Raging Bull , After Hours , The Last Temptation of Christ , Goodfellas , The Age of Innocence , Casino , Kundun , Bringing Out the Dead , The Aviator , The Departed , Shine a Light ), seven of his films are in Eberts Great Movies list (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, After Hours, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas and The Age of Innocence), and Ebert has written an entire book of his reviews, interviews and essays on Scorseses work simply titled "Scorsese By Ebert".

As of March 2016, seven of his films are on the IMDbs Top 250 Films list: Goodfellas , Taxi Driver , Raging Bull , The Departed , Casino , Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street .

The first movie he saw at the cinema was Duel in the Sun , he was age 4.

On "Inside the Actors Studio" , he said the directors that inspired him the most are John Cassavetes , Orson Welles , John Ford , Federico Fellini , Elia Kazan , Roberto Rossellini , Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Other than his short films and documentaries, all his film from 1972 to 1990 were shot in Widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1) and all his film from 1992 onward were shot in CinemaScope aspect ratio (2.35:1).

The death of Federico Fellini was very similar to his fathers death. Bypass surgery, a stroke and then a coma. Scorsese also noted that they both lasted exactly the same days in the coma.

Scorseses elaborate 2010 docu-commercial for "Bleu de Chanel" mens French fragrance, flashes a very brief image of a clapper board with the name - "C Cappa" - written on the Director credit space. Apparently this is an homage to his mother whose maiden name was C(atherine) Cappa.

Directed three films on the American Film Institutes list of the 100 Greatest Movies: Raging Bull at #4, Taxi Driver at #52 and Goodfellas at #92.

The Magic Box was the film that created the biggest impression on him and made him think he could do filmmaking himself.

According to lifelong collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker , Martys favorite facet of the filmmaking process is the editing.

Donated his collection of papers, photographs, memorabilia and other film-related ephemera to the Wesleyan University Cinema Archive, where it is conserved along with the collections of such film luminaries as Frank Capra, Clint Eastwood, Ingrid Bergman, John Waters, Elia Kazan and others. The Archive is kept under the supervision of renowned film historian, scholar and Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger.

Went to see The Searchers on the afternoon of the day that he graduated from Parochial school.

Named after his maternal grandfather, Martin "Filippo" Cappa.

Was given the script of Taxi Driver by his friend Brian De Palma.

Honorary president of the Vienna Film Museum.

Was at one time interested in making a remake of Scarface (1932) with Robert De Niro.

President of the jury at the 13th Marrakech Film Festival in 2013.

Despite being known for his gangster films, he has only made five films out of almost 50 about the Mob: Mean Streets , Goodfellas , Casino , Gangs of New York and The Departed . His other films vary in genre and style, from period epics to musical to biography of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Admits he made Hugo so he would have at least one film his daughter could watch.

Despite being known for directing extremely dark and often very violent movies, he is known in real life to be a very friendly, polite and mild-mannered person who gets along very well with his cast and crew.

Once surprised Dave Chappelle by saying he was a huge fan and quoting from "The Playa Haters Ball".

Has written three books on the cinema - "A Directors Diary: the Making of Kundun", "The Magic Box: 201 Movie Favourites" and "A Personal journey with Martin Scorcese Through American Movies" (A literary adaption of his Channel 4/British Film Institute documentary).

Has been directed by such directors as Robert Altman , Robert Redford , Akira Kurosawa , Albert Brooks and Irwin Winkler.

The film that had the greatest influence on him is Duel in the Sun .

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2003.

Is a huge fan of comedians. He has also directed comedians such as Alan King , Kevin Pollak , Don Rickles , Dick Smothers and Jerry Lewis.

In two of his films, After Hours and Cape Fear , writer Henry Miller is mentioned.

Once considered producing a remake of Akira Kurosawa s Tengoku to jigoku with Mike Nichols as the director.

Eric Clapton gave Martin Scorsese the gold record of the song "Sunshine of Your Love" as a gift. Martin Scorsese used this song in Goodfellas .

Martin Scorsese presented both Robert De Niro and Mel Brooks their AFI Lifetime Achievement awards.

Martin Scorsese made cameo appearances as a photographer in two films that he directed. The two films are The Age of Innocence and Hugo .

Leonardo DiCaprio thanked him when he won the Best Actor Oscar for Alejandro G. Irritu s The Revenant . During his acceptance speech, DiCaprio thanked Scorsese for "teaching him so much about the cinematic art form" [February 28, 2016].

Despite the fact that Martin Scorsese does not like remakes, he has directed two. The first was Cape Fear and the second was The Departed . The Departed is a remake of the Hong Kong film Mou gaan dou .

St. Patricks Old Cathedral is used as a location in two Martin Scorsese films, which are I Call First and Mean Streets .

Has a phobia of flying on airplanes.

Was Francis Ford Coppola s choice to direct The Godfather: Part II , but Paramount Pictures wanted Coppola back, with the promise of his own creative freedom.

Peter Bogdanovich and George Cuckor signed Martin Scorseses directing card that allowed him into the Directors Guild.

President of the Cinfondation and Short Films jury at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival in 2002.

Martin Scorsese and Robert de Niro were brought up blocks apart in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, but never formally met when they were young. When introduced at a party in 1972, the two came to realize that they had seen each other many times but had never spoken.

First heard of Leonardo DiCaprio through old friend Robert De Niro who had co-starred with Leo in This Boys Life . He later spotted him on television one night in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape which he thought, at first, was a documentary. By the time Leo had had his breakthrough outing in the blockbuster Titanic , he was now in a position to help greenlight the production of Gangs of New York .

All but three of his feature films have received at least one Academy Award nomination: New York, New York , The King of Comedy and After Hours .

(November 30, 2016) For the very first time the director had the great privilege of a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican in the company of his wife Helen Morris , daughters Francesca Scorsese , Cathy Scorsese and fellow producer Gastn Pavlovich. Scorsese screened his religious epic Silence (Nov. 29th) at the Jesuit-run Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome for an international group of Jesuits and again (Nov. 30th) in the Vatican for a select group of guests.

Has directed Victor Argo in six films: Boxcar Bertha , Mean Streets , Taxi Driver , After Hours , The Last Temptation of Christ and New York Stories .

Has directed Illeana Douglas in four films: The Last Temptation of Christ , New York Stories , Goodfellas and Cape Fear .

Is the only director to have two films that were selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in their first year of eligibility ( Raging Bull and Goodfellas ).

Is one of four directors who have directed Academy Award winning performances in all four acting categories. The others being William Wyler, Elia Kazan and Hal Ashby.

[on sports] Anything with a ball, no good.

It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not,change the world and if it does, then only temporarily.

There is no such thing as pointless violence.

[on the Iraq war] One hopes that this kind of war can be done,diplomatically, with intelligence rather than wiping out a lot of,innocent civilians.

[on political correctness] You can hardly say anything about minorities,now. It has made it extremely difficult to open your mouth.

[on the Iraq War] There are a lot of Americans who also feel that a lot,of this war talk is economic, part of this has to do with the oil. I,think it really has to come down to respecting how other people live.

A talent. . . a genius, who could create a solid rock image that has,conviction.

Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see,things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies,are the memories of our life time, we need to keep them alive.

All the elements: the projector is correct; the lenses are right; the,sprockets are correct. Even the sounds of the sprockets are correct.

You do. . .

And it has to come out other ways. For me, it was burning to be able to,express myself with cinema, and to be inspired by films.

"Boardwalk Empire" (2010) is made for what I guess you would call,the small screen. But we made it like a film; an epic B-film in a way.

[on film preservation] Film is history. With every foot of film that is,lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each,other and to ourselves.

There is an essence to the project that you must protect. You cannot,make concessions on that, the story cannot be tampered with past that,point; you have to fight off every power or force around you.

Things fall out of favor, out of fashion. I have no idea. All I can do,is hope to get to make another one.

The cinema began with a passionate relationship between celluloid and,the artists and craftsmen and technicians who handled it, manipulated,it, and came to know it in the way a lover comes to know every inch of,the body of the beloved. No matter where the cinema goes, we cannot,afford to lose sight of the beginning.

The King of Comedy (1982) is my coming to terms with,disappointment, disappointment with the fact that the reality is,different from the dream.

Whatever you do now that you think is new was already done in 1913.

He is a warm, passionate, compassionate person who, I think, puts on a,tough front.

[on Mean Streets (1973) ] I was so pleased when Warner Bros.

bought it because they had all the best gangster films.

Cape Fear (1991) was an attempt to work in the mainstream.

[why cinemas are still the best way to see movies] The problem now is,that it is everything around the frame that is distracting. Now you can,see a film on an iPad. You might be able to push it closer to your,[face] in your bedroom, just lock the door and look at it if you can,but I do find just glimpsing stuff here or there, even watching a film,at home on a big-screen TV, there is still stuff around the room.

[on Margot Robbie] With Margot you can recall some classic precedents:,the comedic genius of Carole Lombard, for her all-bets-off feistiness;,Joan Crawford, for her grounded, hardscrabble toughness; Ida Lupino,for her emotional daring. Margot has all this, in addition to a unique,audacity that surprises and challenges and just burns like a brand into,every character she plays.

On Howard Hughes: He was sort of like the outlaw of Hollywood.

Violence is not the answer, it doesn’t work any more. We are at the end of the worst century in which the greatest atrocities in the history of the world have occurred. . . The nature of human beings must change. We must cultivate love and compassion.

The most interesting of the classic movie genres to me are the indigenous ones: the Western, which was born on the Frontier, the Gangster Film, which originated in the East Coast cities, and the Musical, which was spawned by Broadway. They remind me of jazz: they allowed for endless, increasingly complex, sometimes perverse variations. When these variations were played by the masters, they reflected the changing times; they gave you fascinating insights into American culture and the American psyche.

Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our life time, we need to keep them alive.

There must be people who remember World War II and the Holocaust who can help us get out of this rut.

If your mother cooks Italian food, why should you go to a restaurant?,Eradicating a religion of kindness is, I think, a terrible thing for the Chinese to attempt.

Now more than ever we need to talk to each other, to listen to each other and understand how we see the world, and cinema is the best medium for doing this.

I love studying Ancient History and seeing how empires rise and fall, sowing the seeds of their own destruction.

I do know that some Buddhists are able to attain peace of mind.

The cinema began with a passionate, physical relationship between celluloid and the artists and craftsmen and technicians who handled it, manipulated it, and came to know it the way a lover comes to know every inch of the body of the beloved. No matter where the cinema goes, we cannot afford to lose sight of its beginnings.

It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily. .