Martin Scorsese
Birth Name: Martin Charles Scorsese
Is an American director, producer and screen-writer

Born: November 17, 1942 (age 73), Queens, New York City, New York, United States 


Is known for his gritty, meticulous filmmaking style and is widely considered one of the most important directors of all time. Scorsese's passion for films started at a young age, as he was an 8-year-old pint-sized filmmaker. In 1968, he completed his first feature-length film, Who's That Knocking at My Door?, but it wasn't until he released Taxi Driver nearly 10 years later that he skyrocketed to fame for his raw formula of storytelling. He proved that the film wasn't a fluke with a string of landmark films, such as Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Mean Streets.

He spent much of his time in front of the television or at the movie theater, where he fell in love especially with stories about the Italian experience and films by director Michael Powell. By the time he was 8 years old, Scorsese was already drawing his own storyboards, often complete with the line, "Directed and Produced by Martin Scorsese.
was raised a devout Catholic and even entertained the idea of entering the priesthood before deciding to pursue filmmaking instead. Although his parents "didn't get" his mania for movies, Scorsese felt he was headed in the right direction when a 10-minute comedy short earned him a $500 scholarship to New York University.

Cinematic  Success

After completing his MFA in film directing at NYU in 1966, Scorsese briefly worked at the university as a film instructor. His students included Jonathan Kaplan and Oliver Stone. In 1968, Scorsese completed his first feature-length film, Who's That Knocking at My Door?
In 1973, Scorsese directed Mean Streets, his first film to be widely acknowledged as a masterpiece and he also introduced Scorsese to Robert De Niro, sparking one of the most dynamic filmmaking partnerships in Hollywood history

Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, Scorsese directed hard-hitting films that helped define a generation of cinema.  In 1976, Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), also starring De Niro, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and he followed that film with New York, New York (1977) and El último vals (1978). Scorsese directed De Niro to an Oscar-winning performance as boxer Jake LaMotta in Toro salvaje (1980) and then he received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

 He continued to make films like The Color of Money, in 1986, and La última tentación de Cristo
(1988).
The 1990s saw the release of two of Scorsese's most important Mafia movies to date: GoodFellas.  La edad de la inocencia (1993), Casino (1995), and Kundun (1997), among other films. Commissioned by the British Film Institute to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of cinema, Scorsese completed the four-hour documentary, A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995), co-directed by Michael Henry Wilson.


A Living Legend:

 In 1978, Scorsese made an acclaimed documentary called The Last Waltz, showcasing the farewell performance of The Band, with guest performances by Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters. In addition to being hailed as one of the greatest concert movies of all time, The Last Waltz was then spoofed in Rob Reiner's landmark 1984 mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap.