Martin Scorsese's Biography

Scorsese's parents were children of Sicilian immigrants to New York. They worked in the garment district.

As a child, Martin Scorsese wanted to be a painter. He suffered from asthma and his parents took him to the movies because, according to the book, Scorsese on Scorsese: "they didn't know what else to do with me".

Martin Scorsese went to Cathedral College, a junior seminary, but was expelled after a year, as he diverted his attention from work to a love interest.

Scorsese went on to study Film as a major and English as a minor at New York University. Whilst still an undergraduate he married fellow student Laraine Marie Brennan.

The late 1960s were tough for Scorsese. His marriage was in trouble and he was struggling financially.

In 1969 he released his first full length film, Who's That Knocking at My Door? and also began teaching at NYU.

From that time on, many films and wives were to follow. Scorsese's other marriages were with Julia Cameron, Isabella Rosellini and Barbara DeFina. He is now with Helen Morris. Scorsese's notable films include Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), The Last Waltz (1978), The Color of Money (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Bringing Out The Dead (1999), The Gangs of New York (2002) and The Aviator, which was nominated for 11 Oscars in 2005.

Many of Scorsese's films feature Robert De Niro, and more recently Leonardo DiCaprio.

He also directed the video for Michael Jackson's 1987 single Bad; and Scorsese has also made commercials. Another string to Scorsese's bow are quality documentaries including a 2 part tour through Italian Cinema. Scorsese said: "The more films I made, the more I realised what an indelible mark Italian cinema had left on me."

In 2005, Martin Scorsese was awarded France's Legion of Honour.

In 2006, Scorsese had another box office hit with The Departed starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.

The Departed won best picture and best director at the 12th annual US Critics' Choice Awards.

In 2007, Martin Scorsese turned around his unfortunate record in the Oscars. The Departed won four Oscars, including best film and best director for Martin Scorsese. It was sixth time lucky for Scorsese.

However, Scorsese said he wanted to move away from expensive Hollywood movies and his next project would be a relatively small-scale adaptation of the Japanese novel, The Silence by Shusaku Endo.

However, in March 2007 the BBC revealed that Martin Scorsese was teaming up with Mick Jagger to make The Long Play, a film about two friends and their lives in rock music.

2008 saw the release of Shine A Light, Martin Scorsese's documentary film, charting the history of The Rolling Stones.

In November 2009, it was reported that Martin Scorsese would receive the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Golden Globes in 2010.

In February 2010, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, topped the US and Canada box office chart.

In October 2012, the BBC carried an interview with Thelma Schoonmaker, who for decades edited Scorsese's films, such as Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Aviator, having met him in 1963.

In 2019, he released The Irishman, a film backed by Netflix, starring Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino.

In 2023, he was directed Killers of the Flower Moon, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.

He was nominated for an Oscar for best director and the film was nominated in ten categories.