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Guess which famous actor's birthday is today...

On this day in 1943, Robert de Niro, one of the greatest actors of all time, was born in New York City.

I've called De Niro my favorite actor ever since I saw him in the 1995 crime thriller Heat, which I consider my all-time favorite movie.

After seeing him play mobster Paul Vitti opposite Billy Crystal in 1999's Analyze This and the uptight ex-CIA operative Jack Byrnes in the 2000 comedy Meet the Parents, I realized just how versatile and talented De Niro really is. Not every actor can deftly switch from gun-shooting assassin to funnyman like he can.

You know an actor is great when he's likable even as a villain.

Other memorable roles include the boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, for which De Niro won the Oscar for Best Actor; the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II, for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; and creepy loner Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, where his signature line was "You talking to me?"

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We can't neglect to mention notable roles in The Deer Hunter, Mean Streets, The Untouchables, A Bronx Tale (which he directed), Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Awakenings, Casino, and the list goes on.  

 I feel he displayed his best comedic chops in Midnight Run, a highly underrated film from the late 80s in which he plays a bounty hunter hired to bring to Los Angeles an accountant who embezelled millions from a mobster.

Although his movies in recent years haven't been nearly as good -- frankly, some have been downright awful --  there's no denying Robert de Niro, like Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, deserves a place in the pantheon of cinematic legends. Hopefully the 74-year-old has many many more birthdays to come and a few more blockbusters on the docket.

Which De Niro movies have you seen? Which have been your favorite?

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