De Niro trial revealed his real-life drama aligns with his onscreen mob personas

During a 60-year film career, Robert De Niro has played mobsters and hitmen, fraudsters and hustlers.

Now in the twilight of his career, De Niro tends to oscillate between highbrow Martin Scorsese dramas and slapstick comedies.

But it’s his mafioso roles that are the double Oscar-winner’s most iconic – and that tough-guy persona, a new trial revealed, is also embraced in his personal and professional lives.

A jury found on Thursday that De Niro was not liable in a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by his former assistant Graham Chase Robinson, but found his company Canal Productions liable and awarded her $1.2m in damages. The juicy two-week trial opened a window into the screen legend’s complicated romantic relationships and old-school values.

Testimony from his employees and private text messages shown in court revealed De Niro prized loyalty above all else,