Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro dies just weeks after actor became a father for seventh time
Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez has died at the age of 18, according to a heartfelt Instagram post by his mother Drena De Niro.
The tragic news about the actor’s grandson comes just weeks after he announced he had become a father for the seventh time – at the age of 79.
Leandro, the son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena, 51, and artist Carlos Rodriguez, was an aspiring actor who had landed roles in 2018’s A Star Is Born and Cabaret Maxime and 2005’s The Collection.
Drena paid tribute to her late son in a heartfelt Instagram post today. She did not reveal his cause of death but shared a picture of Leandro, who she described as a ‘beautiful sweet angel’, alongside a poignant caption which read: ‘I wish that love alone could have saved you.’
Her post continued: ‘I don’t know how to live without you but I’ll try to go on and spread the love and light that you so made me feel in getting to be your mama.
Robert De Niro’s grandson has died. Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (pictured, left) was the son of De Niro’s (pictured, right) adopted daughter Drena De Niro (pictured, centre)
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (pictured) was following in his grandfather’s footsteps, and was an aspiring actor who had landed roles in 2018’s A Star Is Born and Cabaret Maxime and 2005’s The Collection
‘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.’
She was immediately flooded with messages of condolences, with one friend commenting: ‘Drena don’t tell me it’s true tell me you’re joking because I can’t believe leo isn’t with us anymore. It’s an horrible news to digest. Drena my heart is with you and Carlos and your loved ones – I love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’
Drena responded: ‘I know I still hope this is a nightmare and I’ll wake up tomorrow.’
Leandro’s father Carlos did not pay a public tribute to his late son but shared an image of a black square on his Instagram page without a caption.
In recent weeks, Robert De Niro revealed he had become a father for the seventh time, after a reporter from ET Canada what it was like to be a father of six children.
The actor responded by saying he actually had seven as he had, in fact, ‘just had a baby’, though he did not share the name of the youngster or the gender, nor did he reveal the identity of his baby’s mother.
However, the Oscar winner was last linked to martial arts instructor Tiffany Chen – the pair were photographed holding hands in July 2022 and in March of this year she appeared pregnant when leaving Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, California.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the actor’s six other children.
Drena De Niro, 51
Drena, who currently lives in New York, describes herself as being trained in Muay Thai and martial arts
Drena De Niro is the daughter of Diahnne Abbott and the adopted daughter of De Niro after the pair married in 1976 (pictured together in New York in 1977)
Drena was adopted by De Niro, and took his surname, after the actor married her mother, Diahnne Abbott, in 1976.
She had a relatively transient lifestyle thanks to her father’s vibrant career and split her time between New York City, Los Angeles, and Italy.
The now 51-year-old left school and decided to explore the arts, turning her hand to a whole host of career paths including model, DJ and fashion consultant.
She eventually decided to follow in De Niro’s footsteps and soon found her feet as an actress and filmmaker.
Her first role was in Allison Anders’s Grace of My Heart in 1996 and she went on to star in several of her father’s films including 1999’s On The Run, 2002’s City By The Sea and 2002’s Showtime.
De Niro split with Drina’s mother in 1988 but the Hollywood A-lister remained in her life nonetheless.
She made De Niro a grandfather in 2003 when she welcomed son Leandro with her then-boyfriend Carlos Rodriguez.
Drina, who currently lives in New York, has since turned her attentions to directing and also describes herself as being trained in Muay Thai and martial arts.
Raphael De Niro, 46
Raphael initially followed in his father’s acting footsteps after making a handful of on-screen appearances but he eventually decided to break away from the family tradition
Raphael is the eldest son of the acting legend and ex wife Diahnne Abbott (pictured together in 1977) and was born seven months after the couple married
Raphael, 46, who is the eldest son of the acting legend and ex wife Diahnne Abbott, was born seven months after the couple married.
Growing up, he showed great entrepreneurial spirit, working various summer jobs including at a Persian rug store, as a doorman, and as a busboy at his father’s Nobu restaurant.
Raphael, whose parents divorced when he was just a pre-teen, later attended New York University but did not end up graduating.
Early signs suggested he would follow in his father’s acting footsteps after making a handful of on-screen appearances but he eventually decided to break away from the family tradition.
Instead, he found his feet as a real estate broker in New York and worked his way up in the property industry – eventually founding his own team under the Douglas Elliman real estate umbrella in 2004.
The De Niro group soon became the company’s top earning team, bringing in an average of more than $250million in sales to the company annually, and count famous faces such as Renee Zellweger and Kelly Ripa among its client base.
Raphael married fellow broker Claudine De Matos at a ceremony in the Bahamas in 2008 and the couple welcomed three children together before eventually splitting.
The pair finalized their divorce in January 2020 and Raphael remarried during the pandemic, this time tying the knot with stylist Hannah Carnes.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro, 27
De Niro divorced Abbott in 1988 before finding romance with former actress and model Toukie Smith (pictured together)
Aaron (pictured left) has largely shunned the limelight but over the years De Niro has spoken about raising bi-racial children
De Niro divorced Abbott in 1988 before finding romance with former actress and model Toukie Smith later that same year.
He and Smith welcomed Aaron, along with twin brother Julian, in 1995.
Aaron has largely shunned the limelight and, as a result, very little is known about him.
He also appears not to have any public social media profiles.
De Niro has previously spoken candidly about raising bi-racial children.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Hollywood alum said: ‘My children are all half black.
‘Even me, I take certain things for granted.’
‘When people say that they tell their kids, “Keep your hands [out] when you’re stopped by any cops, keep your hands on the steering wheel, don’t make a sudden move, don’t put your hands below, don’t do this,” you understand that.’
Julian De Niro, 27
Julian, who is Aaron’s twin brother, is also one of De Niro’s growing brood to have inherited the acting genes
He got his first major break in 2016 when he appeared in In Dubious Battle alongside a star-studded cast which included Selena Gomez and James Franco
Julian, who is Aaron’s twin brother, is also one of De Niro’s growing brood to have inherited the acting genes.
He got his first major break in 2016 when he appeared in In Dubious Battle alongside a star-studded cast which included Selena Gomez and James Franco.
But his TV debut took a little longer to come to fruition.
Julian took up the role as a young Barack Obama in Showtime’s drama series The First Lady in 2022.
And the budding star continues to take his acting talents to the stage.
Julian, who studied computer science and math at New York University, has also shown a great deal of prowess with the written word too.
In 2018, he even had a study – titled ‘What The World Wants’ – published in The Washington Post.
In it, the star explored the results of an in-depth Twitter analysis – which he conducted alongside his professor and a classmate – in order to uncover ‘what people craved the most in 2018.’
Elliot De Niro, 25
Elliot is the actor’s first child with second wife actress and philanthropist Grace Hightower
De Niro and Hightower were married in 1997, split in 1999, then got back together, renewed their vows in 2004 before he filed for divorce in 2018
Elliot is the actor’s first child with second wife actress and philanthropist Grace Hightower.
In 2016, De Niro revealed that Elliot had autism, and revealed that playing tennis was one of his passions.
He even featured in ESPN’s Special Olympics: 50 Game Changers series which honoured the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics.
‘Finding things for kids to do is a hard part of the whole situation with parents of kids with special needs,’ De Niro said in the episode.
‘[Playing tennis] helps him. He is more confident when he sees that he is actually good at this.
‘That’s the best self-motivator anyone can have.’
De Niro and Hightower were married in 1997, split in 1999, then got back together, renewed their vows in 2004 before he filed for divorce in 2018.
The divorce has been highly contentious with the pair initially fighting over custody before the arguments became about money and property.
Helen Grace De Niro, 11
De Niro and Hightower welcomed daughter Helen Grace via surrogate in 2011 – and have largely tried to shield her from the limelight
De Niro and Hightower welcomed daughter Helen Grace via surrogate in 2011.
The former couple have largely tried to shield the now 11-year-old from the limelight.
But she has been seen enjoying some father-daughter time on a number of occasions.
And the exes have seemingly managed to put their differences aside in order to successfully co-parent.
In 2018, following the split, De Niro said: ‘I honour Grace as a wonderful mother.’
Speaking of his children getting older, De Niro 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.’