AFI Crowns De Niro

Yes?they were talkin' to him.

It was a raging gala Thursday night as Tinseltown's elite turned up at Hollywood's Kodak Theater to watch the American Film Institute honor Robert De Niro with its 31st Life Achievement Award, the organization's highest honor, for his incredible body of work in a career spanning more than three decades and counting.

A who's who of friends and colleagues from past films paid tribute to the two-time Oscar winner, including Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harvey Keitel, Joe Pesci, Sean Penn, Billy Crystal and Edward Norton.

De Niro's résumé reads like a greatest hits collection of the '70s and '80s, from The Godfather Part II, which earned him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, to his searing performances in such films as Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, GoodFellas, The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull, which nabbed him his second Academy Award, for Best Actor.

While De Niro is legendary for his tough-guy roles, ranging in the last decade alone from convicted killers (Cape Fear) and gangsters (Casino and Heat) to deranged stepfathers (This Boy's Life) and psychotic baseball fans (The Fan), his range has expanded to include heroes (Ronin), catatonics (Awakenings) and monsters (Frankenstein).

Lately, however, he's showed off his funny side in such flicks as Analyze This and last year's sequel Analyze That, 2000's holiday blockbuster Meet the Parents and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

De Niro's also tried his hand at producing and directing with 1993's A Bronx Tale (he also went uncredited for codirecting last year's The Score). Next up is a CIA drama that he's helming and headlining with DiCaprio entitled The Good Shepherd, which is due to start filming later this year.

Other notable credits include The King of Comedy, New York, New York, 1900, Brazil, The Untouchables, Midnight Run, Stanley and Iris, Guilty By Suspicion, Backdraft and Jackie Brown.

Collaborators old and new spoke affectionately about the native New Yorker who, in wanting to help out his hometown after 9-11, founded the Tribeca Film Festival, which has quickly established itself as one of the city's premiere events.

"Tonight, my friend, is not only about you, but also about New York City, where you have lived your whole life," said Crystal who costarred in the Analyze films. "Out of the ashes and doubt that surrounded us...he created a cultural institution."

AFI Board of Trustees Chairman Howard Stringer hailed De Niro as "the czar of TriBeCa?the prince of the City."

Other speakers praised the goodfella for his intense dedication to his craft and his influence on generations of aspiring thespians.

"Robert De Niro is the reason I became an actor," said Penn, De Niro's partner in crime in 1989's We're No Angels.

"He taught me how to build a character," said Foster, who was only 12 when she played a prostitute opposite De Niro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.

James Woods, who costarred with De Niro in Sergio Leone's epic 1984 crime saga, Once Upon a Time in America, told the audience about the time De Niro insisted Woods don a gleaming white set of teeth so he could show off his aging character's narcissism and newfound riches, and when producers refused to pay for it, De Niro picked up the tab himself

"Bob De Niro personally paid so that I could have something that would make my character just a little bit better," Woods said. "I went up to him and said, 'Bob, why did you do that?' He said, 'You know what, if you're not great, I can't be great. So let's all be great together.' "

Longtime pal Scorsese, who presented the evening's award, spoke of a humble and quiet man who underneath had an unquenchable reservoir of talent as an actor.

"I never knew where he pulled it from," Scorsese said. "I guess I still don't."

A man of few words, De Niro thanked attendees for their kind thoughts in a brief speech.

"I don't want to take anything for granted, and I'm glad I have this opportunity to let you know how honored I am to work with you and be included in this wonderful tradition," the notoriously shy thespian said upon accepting his prize. "I know I'm getting sentimental, but that's what this is all about."

While the black-tie affair honored the 59-year-old thespian's career, it was somewhat overshadowed by the death of a Hollywood star from another generation, Gregory Peck.

At the end of his acceptance speech, De Niro remembered Peck, one of the last links to Hollwood's Golden Age, who also starred in the original Cape Fear and had a cameo in Scorsese's remake.

"Good night," De Niro said. "And good night, Gregory Peck."

De Niro joins a list of past recipients that includes last year's winner, Tom Hanks (the youngest ever to receive AFI's top award), Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. USA Network will broadcast highlights of the ceremony in a special airing June 23 at 9 p.m.