Full house! While Robert De Niro is one of Hollywood’s most esteemed actors, he also takes pride in his role as the father of seven.
The Oscar winner became a parent in 1976 when he welcomed son Raphael with his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, whom he married after working on the film Taxi Driver together. The Raging Bull star also adopted Abbott’s daughter Drena from a previous relationship.
After splitting from the singer in 1988, De Niro moved on with Toukie Smith. The twosome welcomed twins Airyn and Julian via surrogate in 1995. One year after their twins’ arrival, the Godfather actor and the 227 alum called it quits.
De Niro casually dated after his breakup with the model, but he later settled down with Grace Hightower. The duo tied the knot in 1997, one year before the philanthropist gave birth to their son, Elliot. In 1999, the Intern star filed for divorce and sought custody of his fifth child. However, De Niro and Hightower rekindled their romance and renewed their vows in 2004. They later welcomed daughter Helen in 2011.
See Robert De Niro’s Sweetest Quotes About Fatherhood, Raising 7 Kids
Their reconciliation didn’t last forever — De Niro and Hightower called it quits for good in 2018 after 20 years of marriage.
“Grace and I have two beautiful children together. We are entering a period of transition in our relationship, which is a difficult but constructive process,” the Golden Globe winner said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time.
Following his split from Hightower, the Irishman actor exclusively opened up to Us about navigating fatherhood with his big brood.
“I love my children, just being with them,” he gushed in April 2019. “ It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s fun and you love your kids, and sometimes you want to kill them! Then, when you have the good moments, you forget about the ones that weren’t good.”
Four years later, the Goodfellas star revealed he had secretly welcomed his seventh child. In a May 2023 interview with ET Canada, De Niro was asked about his “six kids” before clarifying the number. “Seven, actually. I just had a baby,” he replied. (The About My Father star was 79 at the time.)
De Niro confirmed to CBS‘ Gayle King later that month that he and girlfriend Tiffany Chen — whom he began dating in 2021 — were the proud parents of daughter Gia, who arrived in April 2023.
Keep scrolling to get to know all of De Niro’s children and their mothers:
