Robert De Niro Presents Documentary About His Gay Dad At Sundance

Much has been written about Robert De Niro over the years, but there’s not been a huge amount of talk about the fact he comes from a family where both his parents were painters. However his father and mother divorced shortly after he was born, as Robert De Niro Sr. had realised he was gay.

Even though this was in the mid 1940s when homosexuality was still illegal, both the actor and his mother stayed close to De Niro Sr. Indeed Robert Jr. helped his dad financially in his later years and dedicated his directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, to his father shortly after he died.

Now Robert has headed to Sundance to help introduce a new documentary about the life and work of his father, which will screen on HBO in June. In a Q&A at the event, he said, “I did this for him. I wanted my younger kids — who were born after he died — to know what their grandfather did. I even kept his painting studio intact so they could see it.”

De Niro Sr. was a successful figurative painter whose work is included in many important collections of American art. However he had trouble keeping with gallery owners and fell out of favour when his art didn’t adapt to the emergence and popularity of pop art in the 1960s. The documentary covers this, as well as revealing more about De Niro Jr’s upbringing and relationship with his dad.

Director Perri Peltz says of the documentary, “Originally, Bob wanted to make the film just for his family. But then we realized it tells the story not just of Robert De Niro’s Sr.’s work — which is amazing — but the entire art world of the time.” (Source: THR)