Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle at the rally of Senator Palantine
First appearance	Taxi Driver
Statistics
Aliases	Henry Krinkle
Age	26
Year of Birth	c. 1950
Year of Death	1976(?)
Occupation	Taxi driver
Portrayed by	Robert De Niro
Created by	Paul Schrader

Travis Bickle is a fictional character, the narrator and protagonist of Martin Scorsese's 1976 film Taxi Driver, in which he is played by Robert De Niro. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x576, 72 KB) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Taxi Driver is a 1976 American film drama directed by Martin Scorsese. ... Look up Circa on Wiktionary, the free dictionary The Latin word circa, literally meaning about, is often used to describe various dates (often birth and death dates) that are uncertain. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Taxi Driver is a 1976 American film drama directed by Martin Scorsese. ... Taxicab, short forms taxi or cab, is a type of public transport for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a screenwriter and film director, renowned for his characters that fall into desperation while their world crumbles around them. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ... Martin Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an iconic American film director. ... // Events March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas Star Wars science fiction film. ... Taxi Driver is a 1976 American film drama directed by Martin Scorsese. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Travis was named the 30th greatest film villain in AFI's top 50 movie villains of all time. There is debate as to whether Travis is a villain or anti-hero. One popular concept of the villain, meant to mimic the purposely distinctive visage of villains from silent films of the early 20th century. ... The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. ... AFIs 100 Years. ... One popular concept of the villain, meant to mimic the purposely distinctive visage of villains from silent films of the early 20th century. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ...

Bickle is a former Marine who served in Vietnam. He is socially inept, has no apparent friends, and is suffering from insomnia, so he takes a job as a graveyard shift taxi driver to occupy his time. As he works late at night in dangerous neighborhoods, his customers tend to include pimps, drug addicts, and thieves. He is visibly disgusted by them, and begins fantasizing about "cleansing" such "filth" from the streets. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces to global crises. ... Social skills are skills a social animal uses to interact and communicate with others to assist status in the social structure and other motivations. ... Insomnia is characterized by an inability to sleep and/or to be incapable of remaining asleep for a reasonable period. ... Taxicab, short forms taxi or cab, is a type of public transport for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. ... A pimp finds and manages clients for a prostitute and engages them in prostitution (in brothels in most cases and some cases street prostitution) in order to profit from their earnings. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... See fantasy for an account of the literary genre involving the development of common or popular fantasies. ...

Bickle becomes smitten with a woman, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), who works in the local campaign office of a presidential candidate, a Senator Palantine. He often watches Betsy from his cab, and finally enters the office with the pretense of wanting to support the would-be candidate, and asks her out. They meet for coffee, and Betsy finds him odd but intriguing, and agrees to see him again. This time, he takes her to the porno movie theater he frequents, apparently seeing nothing unusual in the choice. She is appalled and refuses to see him again. Cybill Lynne Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American actress and singer, best known as the character Maddie Hayes on the groundbreaking ABC show Moonlighting. // Early success Named after her Grandfather Cy and Father Bill, at age sixteen Cybill Shepherd won the 1966... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... United States presidential elections determine who serves as President and Vice President of the United States for four-year terms, starting on Inauguration Day, which is January 20th of the year after the election. ... Seal of the U.S. Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. ...

After this, Bickle becomes increasingly paranoid and starts acting out his vigilante fantasies. He buys several guns and takes to carrying them, and knives secreted about his person — taped to his limbs, for example or in hidden spring-loaded holsters. He famously practices a menacing, tough guy swagger in the mirror — You talkin' to me? — to use on whomever angers him. Eventually, he shaves his head into a Mohawk, and in dark glasses and a military field jacket, attends one of Palantine's speeches, apparently intent on shooting him. He draws the attention of Secret Service agents and flees, so it is never clear whether he would have done so. PARANOiA: first appeared in Dance Dance Revolution (1stMIX). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The United States Secret Service is a United States federal government law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security (prior to the founding of that department in 2003, it was under the United States Department of the Treasury). ...

He also becomes obsessed with "saving" Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute he has seen on his route. He pays her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel), for her time, but refuses to have sex with her, trying instead to persuade her to leave prostitution and return home to her parents. Iris rebuffs him, only increasing his anger and resolve to take her away from a dangerous life. He shoots and kills Sport, but becomes wounded in the process, and continues through a hotel in which Iris is servicing a client, killing the client who turns out to be a mafioso and a bouncer with a wounded arm. Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. ... Whore redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The newspapers hail Bickle as a hero for rescuing Iris. While in the hospital, he receives a letter from her parents, thanking him profusely for returning their daughter to them (she had been sent home after the police arrived and found out she was a runaway). After recovering, he sees Betsy, who grants him an admiring, seductive smile. This final scene has been interpreted by many as Bickle's fantasy as he lays dying of his wounds, but the viewer is ultimately left to decide, in a similar question about Citizen Kane. Is this really his dying dream? Does he really become famous and get his life back on track? It should be noted that the murders he committed were all premeditated murder, and despite the fact he was saving a little girl and whether or not those men 'deserved' it, he could still be liable for prosecution charges. A runaway is a minor who has left the home of his or her parent or legal guardian without permission or has been thrown out by his or her parent. ... Citizen Kane is a 1941 mystery/drama film released by RKO Pictures, the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. ... Premeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully causing the death of another human being (also known as homicide) after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension. ...

Trivia & pop culture impact

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• Travis Bickle's appearance, character background, and certain mannerisms, bear an uncanny resemblance to the character Jon Rubin (also played by Robert De Niro) in two earlier movies, Greetings (1969) and Hi, Mom! (1970), both directed by Brian De Palma. There is also some thematic similarity between Taxi Driver and Hi, Mom! as a whole, although the latter is ostensibly a comedy.
• An episode of Seinfeld titled The Soup Nazi featured two lisping, effeminate characters stealing an antique armoire. When confronted, they parrot Bickle's "You talkin' to me?" line.
• Bickle's first name was an homage to the Mick Travis character (played by Malcolm McDowell) in If... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973), the latter of which was one of Scorsese's favorite films at the time.
• The Clash song "Red Angel Dragnet" from their album, Combat Rock, refers to Bickle, and quotes dialogue from the film.
• Rancid's 2003 album Indestructible includes the song "Travis Bickle."
• Blood for Blood repeatedly sample the musical score from the film, along with voice clips.
• The Scientists' song "If It's The Last Thing I Do" (a.k.a. "Travis") starts "Sometimes I feel like Travis Bickle/ Just wanna shoot up all the bad lurking in this town".
• The Narrator from the 1999 film Fight Club names himself "Travis" at one of his group meetings. Edward Norton decided to name himself in all the scenes after the character, but ended up adding other names as to make it less obvious.
• Australian hip hop band Valentia have a song called "Travis", in reference to Travis Bickle, from their 2005 release Trapped in a Metaphor.
• Millencolin's song "Botanic Mistress", from their album Home from Home, begins with the line "I felt like Travis Bickle, tyrannical, lonely and blue", and later in the song has "And I'll feel like Bickle once more, And maybe I will lose it, Go insane and start a gun war?!".
• The Beastie Boys reference Travis Bickle in the song "High Plains Drifter", from their 1989 album Paul's Boutique, with the line "Bust a Travis Bickle when I feel that I'm getting pushed".
• Pantera samples sounds and dialogue from movie in their cover of Poison Idea's song "The Badge", which appears on The Crow soundtrack.
• Henry Rollins' video for the single "Disconnect" features him as the Travis Bickle character.
• The Simpsons's bartender, Moe Szyslak, practices his De Niro impressions at night and consequently breaks his mirror as his gun slips from his sleeve. He exclaims, "That was an antique. Crap!"
• In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment parodied De Niro's "You talkin' to me?" scene in an advertisement for their event WrestleMania 21.
• Xzibit's album At The Speed Of Life includes sounds and dialogue from the movie in his song "At the Speed of Life".
• Lou Reed's song "Doin' the things that we want to" off his New Sensations album includes the line, "Here's to Travis Bickle and here's to Johnny Boy growin' up on the mean streets of New York." This is a reference to DeNiro's earlier performance in Scorsese's film Mean Streets.
• The introduction to NON's July 3rd, 1989 concert in Osaka, Japan (released on the In the Shadow of the Sword album and the Total War video), samples the "Listen, you fuckers..." monologue.
• Chris Farley's hotel scene in Beverly Hills Ninja portrays him practicing his De Niro impression on a mirror, with some improvisation.
• In the British comedy That Peter Kay Thing, an episode featuring embittered ice cream salesman Mr Softy features a scene where Softy (played by Peter Kay) laments the deterioration of ice-cream salesmanship in Bolton, in terms similar, though more subdued, to Bickle's laments about New York. Throughout his speech, the actual incidental music from Taxi Driver plays in the background.
• Apollo 440's song "Krupa" samples the street drummer's patter as he plays - "Now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style" - the reference is to jazz drummer Gene Krupa.
• In Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haine, one of the chief protagonists, Vinz, re-enacts Bickle's monologue in front of his mirror with a policeman's gun.
• A music video of David Bowie's song I'm Afraid of Americans is obviously influenced by Taxi Driver; Trent Reznor stalks Bowie, and he is also seen as a taxi driver. He even wears an M-65 field coat virtually identical to Bickle's.
• The Powerman 5000 song "Even Superman Shot Himself" off of the album Mega!! Kung Fu Radio uses the lyric "Like Travis Bickle said, 'Suck on this'." The song "Organizized" came from a line of dialogue from the movie: "one of these days I gotta get myself organizized."
• The Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG episode "Night Pilot" is a homage to Taxi Driver.
• In the film Trainspotting, murals depicting characters from Taxi Driver are visible in the bar scene, including one of Bickle as Mark Renton leans against the wall.
• The ninth episode of Pure Pwnage featured references to scenes from Taxi Driver.
• Mr. Plow did a song called "Travis Bickle." Lyrics include "Travis Bickle cares, kickin' ass and takin' fares."
• In the song "Just Another Victim," by Helmet & House Of Pain (Featured on the OST For the film Judgment Night) the lyrics include: "Holy diver I'm a survivor/Feeling like DeNiro In Taxi Driver/With Jodie Foster And Harvey Keitel..."
• The character of Bobby, a pigeon in the Warner Bros. cartoon Goodfeathers, is a pastiche of various DeNiro roles. His catchphrase "You squawkin' to me?" is an obvious reference to Bickle.
• In an episode of Jonathan Creek, the title character describes his obsessive fans as "one step away from Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver".
• The 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories features a bonus taxicab dubbed "Bickle '76", a reference to both Travis Bickle and the year of Taxi Driver's theatrical release.
• In the South Park episode Weight Gain 4000, while deciding which gun to purchase to assassinate Kathie Lee Gifford, Mr. Garrison practices Bickle's famous "You Talkin' To Me?" line in the mirror.
• In an issue of Transmetropolitan, Spider Jerusalem and his filthy assistants exit a cab owned by the Bickle Taxi Co., and their driver looks like Travis, complete with mohawk.
• In the Trailer Park Boys episode "Jim Lahey Is a Drunk Bastard", A man dressed exactly like Travis in the attempted assassination of Senator Palantine scene is spotted as Jim Lahey and Sam Losco are making their speeches.
• In the 2000 film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the character of Fearless Leader (played by Robert De Niro) delivers a version of Travis Bickle's "Are you talking to me?" dialogue.
• In the Transworld Skateboarding film, "Free Your Mind", pro skater Frank Gerwer is dressed as Travis Bickle during the film's skits. A picture of Travis Bickle also appears during the skit before Darrell Stanton's part.
• In the Element Skateboards film, "Element World Tour", the soundbyte heard before Reese Forbes' part is taken from Travis Bickle's narrative about getting into shape.
• In Bobcat Goldthwait's 2003 film Windy City Heat, Perry Caravello's limo driver identifies himself as Travis Bickle.
• In the 1995 BBC series Game On, Ben Chaplin's agoraphobic character, Matthew Malone, dresses up and quotes Travis Bickle whilst in front of the mirror during the episodes Matthew A Suitable Case For Treatment.
• At TNA Bound For Glory 2006, a professional wrestling pay-per-view, Brother Runt walked to the ring with a blue Mohawk and an army jacket, greatly resembling Travis Bickle's outfit when he attempts to assassinate Senator Palantine.
• In Enemy of the State, Gabriel Byrne's character looks and dresses exactly like Travis Bickle. He also drives Will Smith away in a taxi.
• In When the Levees Broke, Spike Lee often refers to Travis Bickle in the commentary