AUSTIN, Texas — Hollywood superstars Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep made a special appearance at the University of Texas Harry Ransom Center on Saturday night.
The actors were on the UT campus for “A Celebration of Film,” celebrating the center’s 65th anniversary and a new endowment in honor of De Niro that was announced in June and will focus on film history preservation. Memorabilia from De Niro, including scripts, costumes and props, are on exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center.
Saturday’s gala was held to help raise money for the endowment, which has a goal of $3 million. According to KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, the Ransom Center will add a Robert De Niro panel to its etched glass windows.
"The second time I saw Robert De Niro, I said to myself, ‘That's the kind of actor I want to be. That's what I want to do, and I want to do it with the commitment and the passion and the skill and the beauty with which he applies to it.’ And he's been my beacon for 50 years, I swear to God," Streep told the crowd.
According to De Niro, if he had not started handing his memorabilia over to the Ransom Center in 2006, he would have ended up on an episode of "Hoarders."
“Maybe it was those feelings of connecting to our past through something tangible that motivated me as I saved every script, costume, prop, award, correspondence, calendar and notes. I thought that maybe someday my family would get something out of all that crap,” De Niro said. “At first, I hadn’t considered that there might be a greater interest.”
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