Jodie Foster had her acting debut in a Coppertone ad when she was three-years-old. When Martin Scorsese agreed to direct, he brought Robert De Niro on-board with him, much to the delight of Julia Phillips. For many years afterward, this comment was often misquoted as "too much Good Friday, not enough Easter Sunday", and erroneously attributed to Marty's New York University teacher Haig Manoogian. Jodie Foster was twelve years old when the movie was filmed, so she could not do the more explicit scenes (her character was also twelve years old). Foster said that the welfare worker saw the daily rushes of all my scenes and made sure I wasn't on the set when Robert De Niro said a dirty word., While in New York for pre-production and cast meetings, Schrader was moping in a bar late one night when he picked up a young woman. She competed in the 1966 Miss Teenage America and won Miss Congeniality. well as famously act as spokesperson for L'Oreal. Over her career, Cybill Shepherd dated Elvisand became close friends with Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Jean Renoir, and Franois Truffaut. He also added that Travis "is not cured" after surviving the shoot-out, and "next time, he's not going to be a hero.". The better man is the man who can kill you. line is closely paraphrased from Shane (1953). At the 31st AFI Life Achievement Awards, Jodie Foster credited Robert De Niro with introducing her to the true craft of acting. Source:(linternaute.com). The only camera direction that Paul Schrader wrote in the script was the overhead tracking shot after the bloody shoot-out. Other actors considered for the role of Travis Bickle were Jeff Bridges, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal, Peter Fonda, Al Pacino, Jon Voight, Robert Blake, David Carradine, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Walken, Alain Delon, James Caan, Roy Scheider, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Elliott Gould, Alan Alda, and George Hamilton. Which gave the Phillips a track recordand, more importantly, a multi-film deal with Columbia Pictures. De Palma later regretted not directing the film. Travis takes a job as a night shift taxi driver to cope with his chronic insomnia and loneliness. He also studied mental illness, and during his off-time when filming 1900 (1976), visited a US Army base in Northern Italy and tape-recorded conversations with Midwestern soldiers so that he could pick up their accent. Even on the set of. Cybill Shepherd on her role in Taxi Driver and working with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. Facts about Cybill Shepherd. They would then rehearse the diner scene over and over to the point where Foster got bored, but still De Niro would insist they continue rehearsing. Melanie Griffith was originally offered the role of Iris, but her mother Tippi Hedren made her turn down the offer. Schrader and Scorseses stock rose that year, too, and once De Niro came onboard, the previously unfilmable Taxi Driver became a possibility. Schrader's script clicked with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro when they read it. How old was Cybill Shepherd in A Guide for the Married Woman? Eerily, Bremer was twenty-six-years-old in 1976 (the year the film was released), the same age as Travis Bickle in the film, and Schrader was twenty-six when he first wrote the screenplay, in 1972. It has since been demolished, but the apartment building that replaced it is named the Belmore. Taxi Driver(1976) - The Date With Betsy - YouTube Building inspectors at the scene said they had found corroded angle irons under the stoop of the six-story walk-up, which was built around the turn of the century, and most likely gave-in due to age. Palmer took the first four bars of the song "As the Wind Bloweth" from Hermann's 1970 musical "The King of Schnorrers," expanded the melodic line with a jazzy twist, and gave the piece a new title. Jodie Foster was the third choice to play Iris. A few hours after the sessions wrapped, on the morning of December 24, Herrmann died in his sleep at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. Steven Spielberg visited the music recording sessions of this movie to tell composer Bernard Herrmann how much he admired his work. [21], In 2023, Shepherd starred in the Lifetime film How to Murder Your Husband: The Nancy Brophy Story, where she portrayed Nancy Brophy, opposite Steve Guttenberg as Daniel Brophy, in a dramatization of the Murder of Daniel Brophy. Cybill shepherd taxi driver Stock Photos and Images - Alamy Jean-Paul Sartre's novel "La Nause" proved to be a major inspiration for Paul Schrader's script. The film takes place from May to October 1976. The Hollywood veteran - who got her start 50 years ago and is best known for working. According to Shepherd, Scorsese had requested a "Cybill Shepherd type" for the role. Likewise, the opening sequence of Travis driving with his eyes reflected in the rear-view mirror is a shout out to Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place (1950). The French director based the eponymous Tamil Tiger character on the one played by Robert De Niro in order to make him a "real movie hero". Meryl Streep reportedly turned down the role of Betsy. Betsy : Are you gonna be my friend? This film draws many parallels with serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam." Steven Prince improvised the list of additional illegal things Easy Andy had for sale after Travis buys the guns. Betsy, Tom and Wizard are interviewed about the police about Travis and Charles Palatine isn't elected President and doesn't clean up the streets of NYC. Despite being criticized for its violence, only four characters die: the armed robber in the corner shop that Travis shoots, the pimp, the Mafioso and the doorman. When Travis calls Betsy from a payphone to apologize for having taken her to a porno movie (Language of Love (1969)), he makes that call from the lobby of The Ed Sullivan Theater (1697 Broadway). He sent the footage to Ralph Bakshi, who said of it, "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.". Rock Hudson was once considered for the role of Charles Palantine. In the course of the final credits can be seen a movie theater marquee announcing Mr. Majestyk (1974) starring Charles Bronson. Mariel Hemingway was a runner-up to Jodie Foster for the role of Iris. Her mother replied, "Cybill, come home." Cybill Shepherd - Biography - IMDb Bernard Herrmann's wife says that when Martin Scorsese, then relatively unknown, called her famous husband to ask Hermann to do the score, he at first refused saying, "I don't write music for car movies." Paul Schrader originally set the film in Los Angeles, but it was moved to New York City because taxicabs were much more prevalent there than in Los Angeles. Cybill Shepherd stars as: "Betsy" Find it on Amazon.com Description: A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process. Cybill Shepherd - Biography - IMDb Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. Martin Scorsese claims that he got the inspiration for the scene from Marlon Brando mouthing words in front of a mirror in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967). About. He encouraged her to get experience on stage in front of an audience, anywhere but Los Angeles or New York City,[11] away from the harsh big-city critics[12] and so she moved back to her home town of Memphis to work in regional theatre. Were still a few years away from knowing that for sure, but its safe to assume he was right. Nobody knew how to direct her. That battle would continue when they graduated to Glamour magazine. Victor Argo: As shopkeeper Melio who is held at gunpoint by a robber (Nat Grant), who is shot by Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), thereby saving Melio. Later, when the DVD was being prepared, Martin Scorsese wanted to replace it with the original shot, with the blood in its original vivid redness, but no print of that original scene could be found, so the DVD still has the muted colors. Because Travis is such a loner, he's desperate for any interaction even if it's just with his own reflection. Steve Burns of Blue's Clues (1996) has a song called "Henry Krinkle's Lament" on his CD "Song for Dustmites.". How old was Diahnne Abbott in Taxi Driver? This line was sampled by British band Apollo 440 for their song "Krupa." She has another cameo in New York, New York, (1977) in which she sings Fats Waller's song, "Honeysuckle Rose". Cybill Shepherd - IMDb Jodie, being a very young but very observant and intuitive young actress, incorporated this character trait into the scene. On the LaserDisc audio commentary, Martin Scorsese acknowledged several critics' interpretation of the film's ending as being Bickle's dying dream. Around the time Tony Bill was considering directing the movie, the Paul Schrader script was sent to Al Pacino, but he declined the role. He watches American Bandstand but doesn't think to start learning an instrument, or how to sing or dance. The producers were looking for a "Cybill Shepherd" type to play the female lead in the film. The screenplay details just said, "Travis looks in the mirror." Named after She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen's Alice (1990). The young actor said to De Niro discouragingly "You just won an Oscar My God, is it THAT hard to get work??". In her very first film, The Last Picture Show starring Jeff Bridges, Shepherd earned a Golden Globe nomination. The story was partially autobiographical for Paul Schrader, who suffered a nervous breakdown while living in Los Angeles. Roger Ebert, who gave the movie a positive review, said, "Well if they took out the violent climax, Gene, this wouldn't be the same movie." Kristy McNichol auditioned six times for the role of Iris. Travis purchases four handguns from Easy Andy. when they're 10 week old] Sometimes I feel closer to one than to the . How old was Cybill Shepherd in There Was a Little Boy? An article in the March 1977 edition of the Ladies Home Journal stated this film "did for cab-riding what Jaws (1975) did for swimming. Cybill Shepherd not afraid of aging on 'spiritual journey' The official taxicab driver's license issued by New York City had an expiration date of May 31, 1976. Robert De Niro and Joe Spinell previously starred in The Godfather Part II (1974), but they shared no screen time together. But the video game was canceled and never made it to stores. The role of the hateful taxi passenger who describes, in graphic detail, how he wants to kill his cheating wife was supposed to have been played by George Memmoli, an actor who had appeared in Mean Streets. But listen, kids aren't stupid anymore, like they used to be. Her later television roles included Phyllis Kroll on The L Word (20072009), Madeleine Spencer on Psych (20082013), Cassie in the television film The Client List (2010), and Linette Montgomery on The Client List (20122013). John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan's life (Monday, March 30, 1981) was apparently triggered by Robert De Niro's obsessive character Travis Bickle, and his plot to assassinate a Presidential candidate. How old was Norman Matlock in Taxi Driver. There is a Hopper Avenue in Fair Lawn, but there is no 154 Hopper Avenue. Cybill Shepherd. The final pistol Travis buys is a Astra Constable, which Andy incorrectly identifies as a .380 Walther. The prostitute (played by Garth Avery) was also a heroin addict and one way in which she would quell her addiction was to add extra sugar to her meals. Looking closely at one of the newspaper clippings at end of the film mentions Harry Kilmer as President of the Manhattan Cab Company. The opportunity to reverse her role in this film, and also distance herself from Hinckley, is in part what inspired Foster to take the role of the heroine and rescuer in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). How old was Ralph S. Singleton in Taxi Driver? The total budget was around 1.8 million dollars, of which, less than two hundred thousand dollars went to talent salaries. After an entire night of persuasion from his friends, Scorsese decided to mute the colors in the violent climax, and subsequently got his R-rating. Harry Kilmer was the name of Robert Mitchum's private detective character in The Yakuza (1974), which was writer Paul Schrader's first screenplay. The second movie in which Robert De Niro's character is a Vietnam veteran. When Travis meets pretty campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), he becomes obsessed with the idea of saving the world, first plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate, then directing his attentions toward rescuing 12-year-old prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster). In 2010, Variety reported rumors that Lars von Trier, Scorsese, and De Niro planned to work on a remake of the film with the same restrictions that were used in The Five Obstructions. Movie-Facts.com is a database with facts about movies and actors. . Bernard Herrmann was initially reluctant to work on such a violent film. Afterward, Spielberg agreed the scene was brilliant, and that cutting the scene would be detrimental. New York was dirty in the 1970s; that is, after all, one of the central themes of Taxi Driver. The second time Robert De Niro's character suffers a gunshot wound to the neck in a Martin Scorsese film, the first being in Mean Streets (1973). When The New York Times asked Jodie Foster how she played the part so authentically, the then-13-year-old actress simply said, "Well, I've never been [a prostitute]. Included among the American Film Institute's 2001 list of the Top 100 Most Heart-Pounding American Movies. After Brian De Palma, who was originally attached to the project, was let go, producer Michael Phillips gave him a gross point as a parting gift, to assuage Phillips' guilt. In her autobiography,[28] Shepherd revealed that she called her mother in 1978, crying and unhappy with the way her life and career were going. Carrying a name combined from grandfather Cy and father Bill, she took beauty contests and pageants by storm. (1973) (and later Britannia Hospital (1982)). Also in 2000, De Niro mentioned interest in bringing back the character in conversation with Actors Studio host James Lipton. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich 's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. How old was Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver? How old was Cybill Shepherd in Taxi Driver? - movie-facts.com Sources: (Pinterest; IMDB), Left: Cybill Shepherd and Charles Grodin in 'The Heartbreak Kid,' 1972. Travis has immense difficulty speaking to others and socializing, tends to see people in black and white terms, suffers from insomnia and mentions taking pills in addition to drinking a lot, tries to be charming but often comes across as vaguely creepy instead, has a frightening capacity for violence simmering just below the surface and he is heavily implied to be suicidal. This misguided male focus, portrayed so often in film, for instance "Marty" (1955), or just about any teen exploitation film from the 80s onward, could have been prevented with a simple readjustment of his self image; with realistic expectations, and would have saved him a lot of grief, and bloodletting. amount of things written about you that aren't true. His theory being that, for some reason, some young men (such as Schrader himself) subconsciously push others away to maintain their isolation, even though the main source of their torment is this very isolation. Source: (imdb.com), The Ageless Beauty Cybill Shepherd. When Taxi Driver was released, Cybill Shepherd was 25 years old. Her father's name is William Jennings Shepherd, and he is the manager of the home appliances business. Not coincidentally, Paul Schrader who penned the screenplay, happens to be zodiac sign Cancer (June 21-July 22) given his birthday of July 22nd. In 1975, she made her next film, At Long Last Love, a musical that was directed by Bogdanovich, but, like Daisy Miller, it flopped. Cybill Shepherd played the character 'Betsy'. At a 25th-anniversary screening of Raging Bull, De Niro talked about the story of an older Travis Bickle being in development. For two years Shepherd kicked butt and took names, staking her claim as one of the countrys top models. Right: in 'At Long Last Love,' 1975. He said it was stupid of him in hindsight, and regretted the decision. Taxi Driver (1976) - Cybill Shepherd as Betsy - IMDb The script of Joker by Todd Phillips also draws inspiration from Taxi Driver. Moonlighting, by the way, wasn't her first go as a regular on a TV show -- she had co-starred with Sam Elliott in The Yellow Rose in 1982-83. [16] That same year, Shepherd hosted a short-lived syndicated talk show version of the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, but left the show in early 2001. De Niro's temporary hack number was: 265216. Who doesn't want to win an Emmy?". Bernard Herrmann wasn't going to write the score for this film, but agreed to do it when he saw the scene where Bickle pours Schnapps on his bread. In the diner scene, 12-year-old Iris (played by Jodie Foster) says to Travis Bickle that "Cancers make the best lovers." He later described De Niro, who was sitting in the front seat of the cab, as his acting coach. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. After taking a break in her career to have her first child, Clementine Ford, she returned to Hollywood in 1983, to make her television series debut in an episode of Fantasy Island (1977). He only has three guns with him in the shootout at Iris's apartment, as he handed over the Walter copy to the storekeeper when he shot the robber. The producers were worried that De Niro would ask for a deserved larger pay raise, since Columbia Pictures was very concerned about the project, and were looking for excuses to pull the plug on it, but De Niro said he would honor his original deal so the film would get made. Goldie Hawn auditioned for the role of Betsy. When Travis meets pretty campaign worker . The vigilante ending inspired Jacques Audiard for his 2015 Palme d'Or-winning film Dheepan. # cybill shepherd# fave films# fgm# filmedit# g# jodie foster# martin scorsese# robert de niro# taxi driver#this took way longer than i expected # Addison # Bruce # Cybill # David # Entertainment # Hayes # Maddie # Moonlighting # Shepherd # Willis # o0Moonlighting0o Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Since Cole didn't like to . A welfare worker supervised her scenes and Fosters older sister, Connie, was hired as her body double for some of the sexier and/or more violent shots. Her ocean deep blue eyes and picturesque look would quickly propel Shepherd from fashion darling to silver screen vixen. Taxi Driver (DVD, 1976) Robert De Niro , Jodie Foster - Like New Region