( CNN ) -- Robert De Niro has always liked to keep a bit of himself hidden from view . `` I 've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being , '' he reportedly once said . `` I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality . '' Of course , the modern celebrity-industrial complex being what it is , he did n't get much of a choice . In hindsight , it 's hard to remember a time when De Niro , who turns 70 on Saturday , was n't Robert De Niro , with his movie star image -- brusque , intense , Italian , New Yorky -- front and center . ( In real life , De Niro -- despite his name -- is a mix of ethnicities , including German , Dutch and Irish , though he identifies most closely with his Italian heritage . ) But that was n't always the case . In the first two decades of his career , he generally disappeared into roles as smoothly and casually as putting on a new suit . You know them all , of course . The brash , manic Johnny Boy in `` Mean Streets , '' the first of his many Martin Scorsese collaborations . The ailing , slow-witted catcher in `` Bang the Drum Slowly . '' `` Godfather II 's '' young Vito Corleone . `` Taxi Driver 's '' Travis Bickle . Jake LaMotta ( `` Raging Bull '' ) , Rupert Pupkin ( `` The King of Comedy '' ) , Al Capone ( `` The Untouchables '' ) , Jimmy Conway ( `` Goodfellas '' ) -- all chips of a multifaceted , diamond-bright talent . Oscar-winning , too : He took home the statue for 1974 's `` The Godfather : Part II '' and 1980 's `` Raging Bull '' and has been nominated five other times . Those early characters often had something in common . Some were gangsters . Some had hair-trigger tempers . ( `` You talkin ' to me ? '' ) There were often hints of hardscrabble lives aching for success , even in cases where they 'd achieved it . ( Behind the eyes of De Niro 's Corleone , long after he starts wearing tailored clothes , are the haunted memories of tenement flats and Ellis Island . ) Why we ca n't get enough of the gangster life . Still , there was always a sense of mystery . The 5-foot-9 actor had that mesmerizing ability to seem taller or shorter , depending on the role . He famously plowed himself into the Method , gaining and losing weight for `` Raging Bull , '' driving a cab for `` Taxi Driver '' and learning saxophone for `` New York , New York . '' He kept viewers off balance with occasional comic turns , whether it was as a cheerful repairman in `` Brazil '' or the exasperated bounty hunter in `` Midnight Run . '' It 's no wonder Bananarama had a song called `` Robert De Niro 's Waiting , '' in which they fantasized about escaping with this enigmatic leading man , `` talking Italian . '' But , more recently , he has been Robert De Niro , the image taking the lead . Given his obvious acting abilities , sometimes it has gotten a little wearying . Why is Robert De Niro in `` Showtime '' and `` 15 Minutes '' ? Who talked Robert De Niro into `` The Fan , '' `` The Score '' and `` Righteous Kill '' ? Ca n't he work with Scorsese again ? What happened to the mystery ? Well , the guy does have a movie festival , some restaurants and a hotel to support . Besides , the actor still gets his turns . He was a shambling spin doctor in `` Wag the Dog , '' the creature in `` Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein , '' Fearless Leader in `` The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle , '' a parodistic don in `` Analyze This '' and `` Analyze That , '' and the ramrod ex-CIA agent in the `` Fockers '' series . He has even started showing a little more of himself . He broke down while discussing last year 's `` Silver Linings Playbook '' on Katie Couric 's talk show . And whether Robert De Niro or Robert De Niro , he 's been a steady presence . The guy 's always working : more than 80 films since 1968 , with seven this year alone -- including `` American Hustle '' with director David O. Russell , who directed De Niro 's Oscar-nominated performance in `` Playbook . '' He promises more to come . After all , he 's only 70 . `` I might like to do things that are more retiring , '' he reflected in 2011 . `` But not retire . As long as I 'm enjoying what I 'm doing , why retire ? '' Why , indeed ? Birthdays are full of surprises .
Famed , much-lauded actor Robert De Niro turns 70 on Saturday . De Niro 's career began with him disappearing into roles . More recent films have found him falling back on image , but still taking chances . De Niro is n't retiring soon ; he has seven movies out this year alone .