31 Unknown Facts About Martin Scorsese That Will Blow Your Mind

One of the most successful directors in the modern Hollywood, Martin Scorsese has been the inspiration for generations of filmmakers. His unique innovative style of film making, has carved in a place at the head of the table of iconic directors. Here are some facts about the director, covering his journey to Hollywood royalty:

1. Scorsese is an Italian-American filmmaker, with reputation as a cult director who works with big budgets and Hollywood’s most desirable stars. He is ambitious, bold, and brilliant but with little commercial success.
2. Guilt is a prominent theme in many of his film, as is the role of Catholicism in creating and dealing with guilt according to him. He has retained strong theological themes in all these years of film making, for he believes as we grow older more questions need to be answered.
3. He was born Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese, on November 17, 1942, in New York City, United States, to Catherine Scorsese and Charles Scorsese. He and his older brother Frank Scorsese were raised in part of Little Italy in Manhattan.
4. His parents are of Italian descendant from Palermo province, Sicily, who worked in Manhattan’s garment district and were part-time actors. The original surname of the family was Scozzese, which became Scorsese due transcription error.
5. As frail asthmatic child unable to play with his friends, he would often spend time at movie theatre and developed passion for film. He was greatly influenced by Powell and Pressburger film as a teenager and later by Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini.
6. He attended Cardinal Hayes High School, Bronx and later spent a year at junior seminary. He graduated in Bachelor of Arts, in English from Washington Square College, New York University, in 1964 and went on to earn Master of Fine Arts, in 1966 from School of Fine Arts.
7. As a student of film school, he made number of short films, including ‘What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?’ ‘It’s Not Just You, Murray,’ and ‘The Big Shave.’ He is recipient of ‘Producers Guild Award for Best Student Film,’ at New York Film Festival and ‘Jesse L Lasky,’ intercollegiate Award.
8. On graduation he remained at New York University as an instructor in basic film technique and criticism while beginning his career as a director. He made his first full length feature film ‘I Call First,’ which was renamed ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door,’ with his fellow student actor, Harvey Keitel in lead.
9. In 1965, as a 22-year-old, he married his fellow New York University student Laraine Marie Brennan, and they have a daughter, Catherine, named after his mother. They later separated in 1972.
10. The 1973 crime film ‘Mean Streets,’ was a breakthrough film for Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Keitel. The film is based on actual events he saw almost regularly while growing up.
11. The Mean Street was Scorsese’s first creative pairing with actor Robert De Niro, whom he had grown up within the Little Italy section. They would go on make ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘New York, New York,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘The King of Comedy,’ ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Cap Fear,’ ‘Casino,’ and ‘Irishman,’ and in the process evolving into one of the most successful director and actor partnership of modern times.
12. In 1970s he ventured into directing documentaries dealing with real people and real events. These include ‘Italianamerican,’ a profile of his parents, and ‘American Boy,’ an account of a drug addicted friend.
13. In 1976 he directed ‘Taxi Driver,’ a psychological thriller drama film, which won the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. It also received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
14. Scorsese earned his first Best Director- Oscar nomination for ‘Raging Bull,’ a biographical film of middleweight boxing champion Jack LaMotta. This film marked the beginning of being labeled ‘A Martin Scorsese Picture,’ for his style, for employing extensive slow-motion, and for complex tracking shots.
15. His 1988 epic religious drama film ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’retold the life of Christ in human rather than in divine form, was a box-office failure, but it created worldwide attention for its perceived blasphemy. It also earned the distinction of being in of rare occurrence in Academy Award for a film to be nominated for one category, for Best Director- Scorsese.
16. He went on to direct ‘The Color of Money,’ ‘The Goodfellas,’ ‘Cap Fear,’ ‘The Age of Innocence,’ ‘Casino,’ and ‘Kundun,’ apart from couple of documentary, including ‘Century of Cinema,’ one episode titled ‘A personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.’
17. The epic crime film ‘Gangs of New York,’ is Scorsese’s biggest and arguably most mainstream venture to date, also it earned him his first ‘Golden Globe for Best Director.’
18. The film ‘The Aviator,’ based on non-fiction book ‘Howard Hughes: The Secret Life,’ by Charles Higham, was a box-office success and became the most-nominated film with 11 nominations at Academy Awards that year.
19. The crime thriller ‘The Departed,’ the remake of Hong Kong film Internal Affairs, was a box-office success and critically acclaimed, won Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director apart from bagging Best Picture. He also won Golden Globe, Critic Choice and Directors Guild of America Awards.
20. The ‘Shutter Island,’ is yet another psychological thriller film by Scorsese, which became his second highest-grossing film worldwide. He has been supporting over 10,000 military veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder through Transcendental Meditation, with the help of David Lynch Foundation.
21. Scorsese usually makes a quick appearance and is also known to contribute his voice without appearing on screen. Starting with ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door,’ he has over 34 credits to his name as an actor till date.
22. In 1990, he along with number of leading film personalities launched ‘The Film Foundation,’ a non-profit film organization to preserve and restore old or damaged films in collaboration with studio. The foundation restored over 800 films from around the world.
23. In 2007, Scorsese founded the ‘World Cinema Foundation,’ to preserve marginalized and infrequently screened films from regions generally ill equipped. This foundation has worked with the ‘Criterion Collection,’ in releasing two volume of DVD titled, Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project.’
24. In 1994, he became a member of the advisory board for the Independent Film Channel on Cable television. For his contribution in enriching American culture through motion pictures and television, he was awarded ‘AFI Life Achievement Award,’ in 1997.
25. The British film magazine ‘Total Film,’ named Scorsese, as the second-greatest director, of all time after Steven Spielberg, in a poll conducted in 2007. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his contribution to cinema.
26. On September 18, 2011, at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, he won the ‘Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series,’ for his work on the series premiere of ‘Boardwalk Empire.’
27. He is recipient of inaugural ‘Robert Osborne Award,’ in 2018. It is awarded by Turner Classic Movies at its annual ‘TCM Classic Film Festival,’ to an individual whose work has helped keep the cultural heritage.
28. After divorcing his first wife he was married to Julian B. Cameron, Isabella Rossellini, and Barbara De Fina, at various time of his life before settling down with Helen Morris. He married her on July 22, 1999 and they have a daughter Francesca.
29. He has written three books on the cinema, ‘A Director’s Diary: The Making of Kundun,’ ‘The Magic Box: 201 Movie Favorites,’ and ‘A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.’
30. On February 28, 2003, he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
31. Martin Scorsese Net Worth: $100 Million