Aspiring actor and director Leandro was following in his mother and grandfather's career footsteps, landing small roles in 2018's A Star Is Born and Cabaret Maxime and 2005's The Collection. 

De Niro adopted his mother Drena, who 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.

In May, Drena had taken to Instagram - weeks before her son's death - to share a sweet post to praise him on Mother's Day.  

In the snaps, Drena could be seen beaming alongside Leandro for a selfie, with another shot showing the pair posing with Leandro's father Carlos Rodriguez. 

The post from May 15 post was captioned: 'Mothers Day ~ A Lil bit of Leo Lil bit of Mare , Lots of Sunny & CleoPipa #AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore. Lots of memories of my soulmate ,fur baby Daisy. Today was a good day  #happymothersday.' 

Drena 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 Drena'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 Leandro with her then-boyfriend Carlos Rodriguez.

Drena, 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.

At 51, Drena is five years older than De Niro's oldest biological child, Raphael, with Abbott. Now 46, he's a Manhattan estate agent whose celebrity clients have included Jon Bon Jovi and Renee Zellweger.

De Niro also has two children — twins Aaron and Julian, 27, — from his relationship between 1988 and 1995 with former model and actress Toukie Smith. They were conceived by in vitro fertilisation and delivered by a surrogate mother.

In 1998, he also had a son, Elliot, 21, and in 2011, a daughter, Helen, 11, (also born via surrogate) during his stormy 20-year marriage to his second wife, former flight attendant Grace Hightower. 

In May, the 79-year-old actor confirmed that he'd welcomed his seventh child Gia Virginia with his girlfriend Tiffany Chan, 43, to whom he has been linked since summer 2021.

New parents: Robert shares the newborn baby girl with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen (pictured together on June 7 in NYC), to whom he's been linked since summer 2021

Gia was born on April 6 and weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces. 

In June, De Niro gushed about raising a newborn once again while at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, stating: 'It feels great.' 

In regards to how he has changed as a father, the Goodfellas star said: 'I have certain awareness — when you’re older you have awareness of certain things in life, dynamics, everything, family dynamics.'

He added: 'You can’t avoid learning certain things and how you can deal with those and manage them and this and that, the usual. 

'It's amazing, but I'm very happy about it.'

Shortly after the news of his new family addition came to light, the actor told Page Six that welcoming his seventh child was 'planned' and questioned 'How you could not plan that kind of thing?'

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