Jake LaMotta

Jake LaMotta was a professional boxer and performer, best known for having been immortalized by Robert De Niro in the revered Martin Scorsese drama Raging Bull.

The onetime middleweight champion and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, LaMotta fought professionally from 1941 to 1954 and had a record of 83 wins, 19 losses and 4 draws, with 30 knockouts.

After reading LaMotta's 1970 memoir, Raging Bull: My Story, De Niro became obsessed with turning the book into a movie. He went on to secure Scorsese as the film’s director, and in preparation he had LaMotta himself train him. The role would earn De Niro a best actor Oscar.

After retiring from boxing in 1954, LaMotta ran a popular nightclub in Miami Beach, worked as a standup comedian and even began acting in movies and television shows.

The former pugilist was seen as a bartender in The Hustler, starring Paul Newman, and appeared in five episodes of the series Car 54, Where Are You?, as well as the shows All Star Revue and The Trials of O’Brien.

He also made appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman and The Howard Stern Show.

LaMotta died September 19, 2017, in Aventura, Florida. He was 95.