Martin Scorsese’s crowning as MJ’s Man of the Month coincides with his Oscar win for The Departed, making it his first golden statuette despite five (Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York and The Aviator) unsuccessful Best Directing nominations. Master of the gangster genre after creating films such as Mean Streets (1973), Casino (1995), Gangs of New York (2002) and his best film Goodfellas (1990), Scorsese has also dabbled in a number of other genres – from comedy (After Hours) to epic period pieces (The Aviator).

Born in Queens on November 17 1942, Scorsese deliberated entering the priesthood before studying film at New York University, where he graduated with a film major in 1964. Scorsese worked with B-grade director Roger Corman, for whom he directed his first film, an exploitation film Boxcar Bertha (1972). He then directed Mean Streets, a gangster film starring Scorsese regulars Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel. Mean Streets showed Scorsese honing his style and the seventies soundtrack, voiceovers and sudden bursts of extreme violence would become some of the director’s trademarks for many of his following films. Scorsese’s big break came with Taxi Driver (1976), where DeNiro plays a malcontent cabbie who vows to clean up the streets of New York from the pimps, hookers and drug dealers. Scorsese’s next major film was Raging Bull (1980), the story of a wife-beating boxer Jake LaMotta. DeNiro’s performance as LaMotta gave him an Academy Award and Scorsese garnered his first directing nomination. After a number of lesser films, Scorsese incited extreme controversy with The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), which showed Christ as a sinner and Judas being blackmailed by Jesus; one particular scene that sent the Catholic Church into frenzy was that of Jesus having pre-marital sex with Mary Magdalene. In 1990, Scorsese directed the Mafia film Goodfellas, which was nominated for best picture and director, among others. Joe Pesci won the best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal as the trigger-happy psycho Tommy. After directing a remake of Cape Fear in 1991 and The Age of Innocence in 1993, Scorsese returned to the Mob genre with Casino, the story of Mafia involvement with the Las Vegas gambling scene. In 2004, he directed Cate Blanchett to an Oscar with his Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator.

A filmmaker of the highest caliber, Martin Scorsese has created more hits than any of his peers. He is a respected part of the filmmaking community and his Oscar is a testament to his sublime skillfulness.