American painter Robert De Niro Snr. was BOTD in 1922. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York to an Italian-American father and an Irish-American mother, he showed an early interest in art. He studied with Josef Albers at Black Mountain College and later with the painter Hans Hofmann, who became a major influence on his work. In 1942, he married fellow art student Virginia Admiral, moving to Greenwich Village where they socialised with Anaïs Nin, Henry Miller, Tennessee Williams and Valeska Gert. In 1943, Virginia gave birth to their son, Robert De Niro Jnr. Shortly afterwards, De Niro Snr came out as gay, separating from Virginia and beginning a relationship with the poet Robert Duncan, though remained involved in the upbringing of Robert Jnr. His painting was championed by art patron Peggy Guggenheim, who included his work in a 1945 group exhibition alongside Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, and gave him a solo show the following year. He continued painting and exhibiting throughout his life, and many of his works were acquired for the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He also taught at the New York Studio School, the New School for Social Research and the School of Visual Arts. His public profile received an unexpected boost in the 1970s, as Robert Jnr became an award-winning actor. Robert Snr died in 1993 on his 71st birthday. The 1993 film A Bronx Tale, directed by and starring Robert Jnr, was dedicated to his father.