NEW YORK — Leandro De Niro Rodríguez, the grandson of Robert De Niro, has died at age 19.
His mother, Drena De Niro, announced the news Monday in an Instagram post. “I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to carry on and spread the love and light that you made me feel so much by becoming your mom,” she wrote. “You were so deeply loved and cherished and I wish that only love could have saved you.”
Drena De Niro had Leandro with artist Carlos Mare, who posted several black boxes without text on his Instagram accounts.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We are very grateful for everyone’s condolences. We ask that we be given privacy to mourn the loss of Leo,” Robert De Niro said in a statement.
No further details were immediately available.
In response to a request to confirm a TMZ report that Leandro was found in a New York apartment, New York City police wrote that “an 18-year-old male was found unconscious, unresponsive and pronounced dead by EMS” at a Wall Street location that houses Cipriani Club Residences. Leandro recently turned 19, reports the media.
The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death.
Drena De Niro, 51, is the eldest of Robert De Niro’s seven children. The actor adopted her when she married her mother, Diahnne Abbott, her first wife. Drena De Niro is also an actress, with roles in “Joy,” “The Intern” and “Mozart in the Jungle,” among a long list of credits.
Leandro also had acting credits to his name, with roles in three projects that also featured his mother: 2005’s “The Collection” and 2018’s “Cabaret Maxime” and “A Star Is Born.” In Bradley Cooper’s version, mother and son played the mother and son, wife and son of Dave Chappelle’s character.
