Martin Scorsese

 Martin Charles Scorsese was a New York City native, born to Catherine Scorsese (nee Cappa) and Charles Scorsese. They both were employed in Manhattan's garment district and both families came from Palermo located in Sicily. His early years were spent in Little Italy, where he later found inspiration for a number of his movies. Scorsese received an B.S. degree in film communications in 1964, then earned an M.A. in 1966. He was graduated from New York University's School of Film. In that period, he produced a number of short films, which won prizes, such as The Big Shave (1967) and directed his debut feature film, who's Knocking at My Door (1967).He served as assistant director and an editor for the documentary Woodstock (1970) and also won praise from the public and critics for Mean Streets (1973), which was his first film to feature actor and frequent collaborator Robert De Niro.