Robert De Niro to Receive Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has named Robert De Niro the recipient of its 44th annual Chaplin Award, which honors major industry talents.

De Niro will take home the 2017 trophy for a four-decade acting career that stretches from early work including “Mean Streets,” “Raging Bull” and “The Godfather Part II” to more recent projects such as “Silver Linings Playbook.” He’s also the high-profile co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, launched in the wake of 9/11 in an effort to boost the economic prospects of lower Manhattan.

The actor-producer will be honored by the Film Society at a springtime gala featuring notable guests and presenters as well as movie and interview footage drawn from De Niro’s career. He joins a list of previous Chaplin recipients that includes Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Meryl Streep, Billy Wilder and last year’s honoree, Morgan Freeman.

De Niro’s Chaplin Award was announced on the closing night of the New York Film Festival, presented every year by the Film Society. The 2016 edition of NYFF closes Oct. 15 with James Gray’s “The Lost City of Z,” one of a handful of world premieres at the festival that also included Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women” and Ava DuVernay’s “13th.”

The 44th annual Chaplin Award gala is set for May 8. Prior to that, De Niro’s latest project, the Broadway musical adaptation of “A Bronx Tale,” which he co-directs, opens in December.

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