August 17 marked Robert De Niro‘s 80th birthday, a particularly significant occasion as a milestone in its own right and for being his first one as the father to newborn baby daughter Gia. De Niro spent the days ahead of his birthday busy at work but still enjoyed copious amounts of birthday wishes from family, friends, and fans.
De Niro has been in the industry since 1963 and so marked a solid six decades putting out award-winning performances, from The Godfather Part II to this year’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which is expected to earn some admirable accolades of its own. However, this birthday, for all the accomplishments it follows, will also be a bittersweet one for De Niro and his family.
Robert De Niro celebrates an eventful leadup to his 80th birthday
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The day before De Niro’s 80th birthday, he sat down at New York City’s Lincoln Center to enjoy a performance of FLEX, a sports play about the 1998 Lady Train high school basketball team. Part of his evening even included a trip backstage, along with a meet-and-greet and photo opportunity with the cast.
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Then, on the big day, De Niro was flooded with sweet messages, with the most tender definitely coming from his daughter, 51-year-old Drena. Drena reshared a post from Debi Mazar that sported a black-and-white photo of De Niro.
“Happy Birthday Bob! Wishing you a happy 80th! Much love to you & the family! Have fun tonight,” she cheered in the caption.
An early birthday gift amid heartbreak
De Niro’s family has had an emotional year. In April, De Niro welcomed his seventh child with his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen. 79 at the time, De Niro became one of the oldest new dads on record with the birth of baby Gia.
Tragically, however, he also mourned the death of his grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, who died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of just 19. Leandro was the son of De Niro’s daughter Drena, who he adopted after marrying Drena’s mother, Diahnne Abbott, in 1976.
Through it all, De Niro has been working still. Recently, he starred in the comedy About My Father and is already generating praise for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Back in March, it was also announced that De Niro would both produce and star in the six-episode limited series Zero Day for Netflix.
