Career Highlights: Love Streams, The King of Comedy, Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation and Advancing An Independent Black Cinema
First Major Screen Credit: The King of Comedy (1983)
Biography
African-American actress Diahnne Abbott played supporting roles in films of the 1970s and '80s, including Taxi Driver. At one time, Abbott was the wife of actor Robert De Niro. In 1983, she also appeared with De Niro in The King of Comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Diahnne Abbott (born January 1, 1945), sometimes credited as Diahnne Eugenia Abbott/Diahnne Déa, is an African-American actress and singer. Abbott played supporting roles in films of the 1970s and 1980s, including Taxi Driver. Abbott was married to actor Robert De Niro. They had a son together, Raphael, named after the hotel in Rome where he was conceived, and De Niro adopted Drena, Abbott's daughter from a previous marriage. (Drena De Niro has appeared in her father's movies Showtime, Wag the Dog and City by the Sea.) De Niro and Diahnne were divorced in 1988.
She also played the object of Robert De Niro's affections in Scorsese's 1983 film, The King of Comedy, as well as roles in the television series Crime Story (character of Sonia) and the film Jo, Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (Mother).