In 1973, Merry Streep said she had a job cleaning urinals when she heard that a friend of her's from college was cast in "Bang the Drum Slowly," the first person she knew with a role in a major motion picture.
But the performance by the actor in that movie that stood out the most was someone she'd see again just two months later in Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets." After seeing the actor's performance in those movies and in "Taxi Driver," Streep said began to pursue film roles rather than just roles in theater.
"That's the kind of actor I want to be," Streep said of De Niro. "That's what I want to do."
Just a few short years later, Streep and De Niro appeared together in "The Deer Hunter." De Niro, who's film career has spanned nearly 60 years, was honored at the University of Texas' Ransom Center's 65th anniversary celebration in September 2022 after a new endowment from the actor was announced to help pay to house his scripts, costumes and props in an exhibit at the museum in Austin, Texas.