Robert De Niro Donates Collection to UT

Robert De Niro is donating his extensive collection of original scripts, notes, costumes and props from his many films to UT's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.

Throughout his career as one of America's most legendary actors, De Niro has been known for stockpiling heaps of materials from his films. "I kept the stuff because I used to go to wardrobe fittings and I'd see something from this movie and that movie, and I'd ask myself, `Jeez, why don't they try to hold on to it and preserve it?'" De Niro said in 2002. "There are things I lost because I wasn't thinking at the time. Now, I'm very protective of it, and I keep all my stuff."

"This acquisition broadens opportunities for scholars and students to study new areas of film, such as the actor's role in authorship," said Thomas F. Staley, director of the Ransom Center. "With its emphasis on role development, from research to costume selection to performance, the De Niro collection will strengthen the Center's holdings in this field considerably as it gives scholars and students the opportunity to study a seminal figure in late 20th-century cinema."

De Niro's donation reflects his genuine dedication to film education. "One of the most important things about the Harry Ransom Center is that the material will be accessible to students and the public," said De Niro in a public statement. "Ultimately, that's what it's all about."

Very little of De Niro's collection has been put on display to the general public until this moment. The materials will be on view in the Ransom Center lobby until June 18, at which time the Ransom Center will begin the cataloging process.

*Photo courtesy of IMDB.