Martin Scorsese

Martin entered the institution of marriage on five different occasions. He first married Laraine Marie Brennan with whom he has a daughter, Catherine.

Then in 1975, he married the renowned author, Julia Cameron and divorced her after a year. They too have a daughter named Domenica Cameron-Scorsese. She is an actress and has starred in few of Martin’s films.

Actress Isabella Rossellini was his third wife from 1979 to 1983. Martin then married producer Barbara De Fina in 1985.

Martin was born as Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese on November 17, 1942 in Flushing, New York. He was raised by Italian-American parents in Little Italy, Manhattan.

Martin's parents, Charles and Catherine, both worked part-time as actors. As a result, his passion for films developed at a young age of eight. However, being a devout Catholic, priesthood was his first choice of profession.

Martin suffered from asthma as a child, and he often spent time alone, unable to participate in the neighborhood and school activities.

After a 10-minute comedy short film earned him a scholarship of 500 US dollars, he entered the Film School at New York University.

During his NYU days, Martin directed a few short films that had prominent influences on foreign classics and Hollywood musicals. Among them was the 1963 short film, ‘What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?’

In 1968, Martin completed his first feature-length film, ‘Who's That Knocking at My Door’. While working on the project, he met actor Harvey Keitel, whom he would go on to cast in many future projects.

The film earned Martin encouraging reviews, and he was offered the position of assistant director and supervising editor for ‘Woodstock’ in 1970. During the filming, he met Thelma Schoonmaker, an editor with whom he collaborated for more than 40 years.

Over the period of 1970s and 1980s, Martin directed several hard-hitting films that helped define new age cinema. In 1970, he directed a less seen documentary about the protests against the Vietnam War, ‘Street Scenes’. He then worked as an editor for concert films like ‘Medicine Ball Caravan’ in 1971 and ‘Elvis on Tour’ in 1972.

In 1973, Martin directed ‘Mean Streets’, his first film to be widely acknowledged as a masterpiece. The film introduced him to Robert De Niro, which later gave rise to one of the most dynamic filmmaking partnerships in Hollywood history.

After making the documentary ‘Italianamerican’ in 1974, which was a chronicle about his parents, Martin started working on his first mainstream studio picture, ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’.

Who’s That Knocking at My Door – This is Martin’s first theatrical film, released on November 15, 1967. The feature was an intimate portrayal of life on the streets of Little Italy.

Woodstock – The huge accolades for his debut film earned Martin the position of assistant director and supervising editor for this documentary. The 3 hour long movie is a brilliant conversion of a raw footage, shot at a 1969 rock concert.

Mean Streets – This boundary-breaking film is a rework of the themes that he introduced in his debut film. The film displayed rapid dialogue delivery, extreme violence and blaring rock music. Released on October 2, 1973, the film is one of Martin’s masterpieces.

Taxi Driver – One of the many gems produced out of the Martin-DeNiro collaboration, this film is also his first major hit. Released on February 8, 1976, the film elevated De Niro's status as a living legend.

New York, New York – Set in the era of the 1950’s Hollywood Musicals, this film is about a novice saxophone player Jimmy Doyle, played by DeNiro. Post its release on June 21, 1977, the film was stamped as a commercial flop, only to become a cult later.