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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Nia Dalton

Robert De Niro's complex family - tragedies, adoption and baby number seven at 79

Aside from being a multi-award-winning influential actor, Robert De Niro is an incredibly proud father and grandfather, surrounded by a large brood of children.

Tragically, it was announced today that the heartbroken dad-of-seven has lost his beloved grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, who died at the age of 19.

His mother, Drena De Diro -the daughter of Robert's ex wife, actress Diahnne Abbott - welcomed her son with then-boyfriend, Carlos Rodriguez, in 2003.

Posting a picture of Leandro, the 51-year-old wrote: "My beautiful sweet angel. I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly."

Robert De Niro with grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (left) and daughter Drena De Niro (Instagram)

She finished: "You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you. I'm so sorry my baby, I'm so sorry @carlosmare. Rest in Peace and Eternal Paradise my darling boy."

Robert adopted Drena during his marriage to The King of Comedy actress, Diahnne. The former couple also share son Raphael.

Robert has seven children in total with four different women, and maintains a co-parenting relationship with all of them.

"I love my children, just being with them," the icon told Us Weekly in 2019, adding: "[But] it's not easy. When you have the good moments, you forget about the ones that weren't good."

Here is everything we know about Robert De Niro's seven children, including his latest addition to the family - baby number seven, Gia.

Drena De Niro

Drena De Niro and her brother Raphael De Niro (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
She's followed in her father's footsteps (WireImage)

Robert De Niro and Diahnne Abbott tied the knot in 1976, with the Goodfellas star then adopting Diahnne's daughter from a previous relationship.

Drena De Niro, who was born in 1971, took her famous father's surname.

Now 51, she's enjoyed a vibrant career and worked as a model and a DJ before following in Robert's footsteps, acting in films such as Great Expectations and A Star is Born.

Drena also created the production company Daredevil Films and Television.

Diahnne and Robert split in 1988, but that didn't stop him from having a close bond with his daughter.

Raphael De Niro

Robert De Niro and Diahnne Abbott tied the knot in 1976 (Getty Images)
Raphael was born just months after their wedding (GC Images)

Robert and Diahnne welcomed their son Raphael De Niro just seven months after getting married.

He made a handful of on-screen appearances growing up, but ultimately decided not to follow in his father's acting footsteps.

Instead, the 46-year-old works as a real estate broker in New York and he's helped a number of A-list celebrities find their dream homes, including Renee Zellweger and Kelly Ripa.

Raphael married fellow broker Claudine De Matos in 2008 and the couple share three children together.

The pair eventually split and finalised their divorce in January 2020, with Raphael going on to marry stylist Hannah Carnes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aaron Kendrick De Niro

Robert shares his twins with Toukie Smith (Getty Images)

After divorcing Diahnne in 1988, Robert found love again with model Toukie Smith that same year.

The pair welcomed twin boys Aaron and Julian De Niro in October 1995, before splitting a year later.

Unlike his brother, Aaron has made the decision to stay out of the spotlight and does not have any public social media profiles.

Julian De Niro

Julian De Niro has worked with a lot of famous faces (Getty Images)
Robert welcomed Julian in 1995 (Getty Images for Lionsgate)

Julian decided to follow his parents into the acting industry and got his first big break in 2016 when he appeared in In Dubious Battle, starring alongside the likes of Selena Gomez and James Franco.

He also took up the role of a young Barack Obama in drama series The First Lady last year.

As well as working on his acting career, Julian also studied computer science and mathematics at New York University.

In 2018, he had a study published in The Washington Post which used an in-depth Twitter analysis to uncover "what people craved the most".

Elliot De Niro

Elliot De Niro was born in 1998 (Getty Images)
Robert said his son is passionate about tennis (Getty Images for Convergence Ent)

Elliot De Niro is Robert's first child with his second wife Grace Hightower, who the actor married in June 1997.

Elliot was born a year after his mother and father tied the knot.

Robert shared his son's autism diagnosis in 2016 and said one of his passions is playing tennis.

Elliot is best known for his achievements as a tennis player in the Special Olympics.

Robert and actress Grace first married in 1997 before splitting in 1999. They got back together and renewed their vows in 2004.

However, they parted ways for good when he filed for divorce in 2018.

Helen Grace De Niro

Helen Grace De Niro was born via surrogate (FilmMagic)
Robert and Grace Hightower split for a final time in 2018 ((Credit too long, see caption))

Before splitting for a final time, Robert and Grace welcomed daughter Helen Grace De Niro via surrogate in 2011.

The former couple have worked hard to try and keep the youngster out of the spotlight and have managed to put their differences aside in order to successfully co-parent.

Speaking about his children getting older, Robert previously told People: "There are great moments and moments of sadness.

"Sometimes you're the last person they want to deal with. It's like when you walk your kids to school and they get older and they don't want to hold your hand or kiss you goodbye."

Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro

Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro was born in early April (CBS / Twitter)
Robert and his girlfriend Tiffany welcomed their first child together (Steven/AFF-USA/REX/Shutterstock)

Robert recently revealed that he welcomed a seventh child, at the age of 79, with his girlfriend, martial arts instructor, Tiffany Chen.

The Hollywood acting legend sat down for an interview in May where he was asked about what it's like being a father-of-six.

ET Canada's Brittnee Blair was the person grilling the icon, with her saying to the Taxi Driver actor: "I know you have six kids," which then sparked Robert to correct the interviewer.

The winner then dropped a total bombshell when he commented: "Seven, actually." Robert subsequently confirmed: "I just had a baby".

The little cherub's name is Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, and she was born weighing 8lbs 7oz.

Speaking to Extra ahead of the Tribeca Film Festival about how fatherhood has reenergized him, De Niro joked: "I'm going to have a new one every year."

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