Mini Biography

Date of Birth : 17 November 1942 , Queens, New York, USA
Birth Name : Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese
Nickname : Marty
Height : 1.63 m
Sign : Scorpio
Hair : Dark Brown

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After serious deliberations about entering the priesthood - he entered a seminary in 1956 - Martin Scorsese opted to channel his passions into film. He graduated from NYU as a film major in 1964. Catching the eye of pr .... Read More

Martin Scorsese Trivia

  • As of November 10th 2009, five of his films are on the IMDb's Top 250 Films list: Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Departed (2006), and Casino (1995).
  • Roger Ebert is a great admirer of Scorsese's work. 14 of Scorsese's films were given four stars by Ebert (Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shine a Light (2008)), seven of his films are in Ebert's 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 Scorsese's work simply titled "Scorsese By Ebert".
  • Haig Manoogian was Scorsese's mentor at NYU. He eventually produced Scorsese's first film (I Call First (1967)) and when he died in 1980, Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull (1980) to Manoogian.
  • In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 7 of Scorsese's films are listed: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006).
  • A huge fan of Fawlty Towers (1975). He describes the episode "The Germans" as "so tasteless, its hilarious.".
  • Is a fan of the British Hammer Films series.
  • Attended Cardinal Hayes high school in the Bronx as a young man. Fellow alumni included George Carlin, George Dzundza, Regis Philbin and Jamal Mashburn.
  • Resides in New York City. His production offices are located on W. 57th Street in Manhattan.
  • He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.
  • Served as a guest critic on "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" (1986) following the death of 'Gene Siskel'. The episode was "The Best Films of the 90s" in which Roger Ebert cited Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990) as one of the best films of the 90s (#3). Scorsese's full list of his favorite films of the 1990s: 10.) Tie: Malcolm X (1992) and Heat (1995), 9.) Fargo (1996), 8.) Crash (1996), 7.) Bottle Rocket (1994), 6.) Breaking the Waves (1996), 5.) Bad Lieutenant (1992), 4.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 3.) Duo sang (1994) ("A Borrowed Life"), 2.) The Thin Red Line (1998), 1.) Dao ma zei (1986) ("Horse Thief").
  • Was originally going to direct The Honeymoon Killers (1969), but was replaced after a week of shooting.
  • Says the only thing he regrets in his career is that he was only able to make The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) on a small budget although he imagined it to be a grand version.
  • Recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients that year were Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, and Brian Wilson.
  • 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.
  • As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell's The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) from a store that only had one copy of the reels. When it wasn't available the owner told him, "that Romero kid has it," referring to George A. Romero who was also a big fan of the film. Today, both directors cite the film as a major influence.
  • When he won his Best Director Oscar for The Departed (2006), 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 9 Academy Awards and 38 Nominations.
  • Directed 17 different actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Leonardo DiCaprio, 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 and Mark Wahlberg. (Burstyn, De Niro, Newman, Pesci and Blanchett won Oscars for their roles in one of Scorsese's movies).
  • He has worked with big names of music business: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, 'Michael Jackson (I)' and David Bowie.
  • The Aviator (2004) was his first movie to gross over $100 million in the U.S.
  • The Departed (2006) is the highest-grossing movie of his 40-year career ($132,373,442 (USA)).