Current:Home > ScamsAlgosensey|A Guide to Father of 7 Robert De Niro's Sprawling Family Tree -TrueNorth Finance Path
Algosensey|A Guide to Father of 7 Robert De Niro's Sprawling Family Tree
Benjamin Ashford View
Date:2025-04-10 23:19:02
Robert De Niro enjoys having a big family,Algosensey but he's admitted that comes with some logistical challenges.
"I try to keep us all together," the two-time Oscar winner told Everything Zoomer in 2018. "Have things to do together. Have everybody have awareness of the family thing, so they look after each other, especially after I'm not around anymore. It's a fragmented family. But I try my best to keep everybody together."
The now-79-year-old also said he was too busy to dwell on aging. "I feel young in many ways," he explained. "You hear this from people getting older, they feel young, they don't feel any different, da da da. That's true for me."
Five years later, he doesn't seem to have slowed down in any of life's arenas: On April 6, he welcomed his seventh child, daughter Gia, with girlfriend Tiffany Chen.
Despite his 50 years of stardom he's led a relatively private life in New York—entirely by design—so he let CBS This Morning's Gayle King deliver the details on May 11 after revealing to ET Canada a few days prior simply that he'd "just had a baby."
"The way he keeps his personal life intact and separate," 52-year-old daughter Drena De Niro, his eldest child, told Everything Zoomer, "that's something I learned from him."
But having seven kids over the course of half a century is a lot to keep track of, so here's a guide to who's who in the De Niro family:
Robert De Niro met his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, while making Taxi Driver, in which Diahnne had a bit part as the ticket taker at a porn theater Travis Bickle patronizes in the gritty 1976 classic and they tied the knot April 28, 1976.
He adopted Diahnne's daughter Drena, now 52, when they got married.
Their son Raphael was born Nov. 9, 1976. He later recalled the family moving from Los Angeles (where his dad was born) to New York (the city his dad is most associated with) when he was about 10, telling The Real Deal it was a major "culture shock."
The actors divorced in 1988.
Drena, whose first Instagram post is a black-and-white snap of her as a child out to dinner with her parents and then-couple Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston ("at this point all I wonder is WTF was I doing there ???"), has remained in show business as an actor and producer.
Growing up, "it definitely wasn't the typical family lifestyle," she told Everything Zoomer, "but there was a lot of warmth, fun, craziness." She described her father as "a non-judgmental, open-minded person, always accepting of what people feel their paths are."
Raphael went into real estate, which also runs in the family. Per his website, he leads The De Niro Team at Douglas Elliman in Manhattan, and he's a partner in TriBeCa's Greenwich Hotel.
The 46-year-old shares three kids with ex-wife Claudine de Matos and has been married to stylist Hannah Carnes since March 2020.
Acknowledging his last name alone turned him into fodder for tabloid coverage, Raphael told The Real Deal, "I just try to keep my head down and keep my private life private."
Drena is mom to Leandro De Niro Rodriguez with artist ex Carlos Rodriguez.
Leandro, born in 2003, ventured into the family business and appeared with Drena in 2018's A Star Is Born.
In July 2023, Drena announced Leandro passed away at the age of 19 after a suspected overdose. An arrest has since been made in connection with his death.
The actor and model Touki Smith are parents to twin sons Julian and Aaron, born Oct. 20, 1995.
Robert and Touki split up in 1996 after about eight years together.
While Aaron leads a private life, Julian is an actor who most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. In 2022 he played a young Barack Obama in the Showtime limited series The First Lady.
"For my kids, I tell them, 'If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that's fine as long as you're happy. Just don't sell yourself short,'" the Meet the Parents star told People in January 2020. "That's the most I would say—push yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don't be afraid."
He also shares son Elliot, born March 18, 1998, and daughter Helen Grace, born via surrogate in December 2011, with Grace Hightower.
They married in 1997 and the actor filed for divorce barely two years later, but they reconciled before the split was official and renewed their vows in 2004.
They again began divorce proceedings in 2018.
When promoting Silver Linings Playbook, in which he played a father of an adult son with bipolar disorder, he opened up about having a child with special needs, telling Katie Couric in 2013, "I don't like to get emotional, but I know exactly what [my character] goes through." In 2016 he shared that Elliott has autism.
The actor's seventh child was born April 6, 2023.
CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King got to do the name-reveal honors on her show May 11. "How cute is this baby?" she said about the photo of the 1-month-old. "Robert De Niro and his partner, that's Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl."
The 79-year-old first told ET Canada that he'd become a father for the seventh time.
"My kids disagree with me at times, and they're respectful," he shared when asked if his children considered him a cool dad. "My daughter [Helen], she's 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that'll be more to come. But that's what it is."
(Originally published May 9, 2023, at 2:18 p.m. PT)
Sign up for E! Insider! Unlock exclusive content, custom alerts & more!veryGood! (8116)
Related
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- 'Just a shock': NC State student arrested after string of 12 shootings damaging homes and vehicles
- 49ers' Nick Bosa fined for wearing MAGA hat while interrupting postgame interview
- US judge tosses Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, governor pledges swift appeal
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Michigan jury awards millions to a woman fired after refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine
- Man accused of stabbing at least 5 people in Seattle ordered held on $2M bail
- Stocks rally again. Dow and S&P 500 see best week this year after big Republican win
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Judith Jamison, transcendent dancer and artistic director of Alvin Ailey company, dies at 81
Ranking
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Zoë Kravitz Joins Taylor Swift for Stylish NYC Dinner After Channing Tatum Split
- Pete Holmes, Judy Greer on their tears and nerves before 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'
- Cowboys' Micah Parsons poised to make his return vs. Eagles in Week 10
- 'Most Whopper
- US agency says Tesla’s public statements imply that its vehicles can drive themselves. They can’t
- Cowboys' Micah Parsons poised to make his return vs. Eagles in Week 10
- Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant out at least two weeks with left calf strain
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Don’t Miss Wicked Stanley Cups at Target—Plus Magical Movie Merch From Funko Pop!, R.E.M. Beauty & More
Trump has vowed to kill US offshore wind projects. Will he succeed?
Ranked voting tabulation in pivotal Maine congressional race to begin Tuesday
Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
Can the Chiefs deliver a perfect season? 10 big questions for NFL's second half
US judge tosses Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, governor pledges swift appeal
How many points did Cooper Flagg score tonight? Freshman gets double-double despite cramps