Robert De Niro Sr left notebooks that revealed struggles with his sexuality and mental health. His son still can’t bear to read them
Robert De Niro has given the authors of a book about his artist father access to intimate journals written by the painter, even though he can’t face reading them himself.
The journals reveal what the Oscar-winning actor describes as his father’s “demons”, including De Niro Sr’s struggle to make enough money and to find artistic recognition, as well as his anxieties over his mental health and his homosexuality, which broke up his marriage to a fellow artist when their son was a toddler.