Robert De Niro, 80, celebrates his daughter’s first birthday

Robert De Niro has plenty of reason to celebrate, as his youngest child has turned one year old!

The veteran actor, 80, welcomed his daughter Gia with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen last year, and 12 months has already flown by.

De Niro revealed that he and his family celebrated his daughter’s first birthday by throwing her a “sweet” party.

The Taxi Driver star opened up about how he and his family marked the special occasion in a new interview.

Robert De Niro celebrated his daughter’s first birthday. Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

He told Entertainment Tonight: “She had a little cake, it was very nice, sweet.”

De Niro, who will turn 81 this summer, also gushed about the joy his baby girl has brought to him and his family.

He explained: “Well, she’s pure joy, there’s nothing about her, there’s no judgment, there’s no anything, she just is what she is and it’s just pure joy for god sakes.”

Including Gia, the star is a father to seven children, with his adoptive daughter Drena being the eldest at 51, while he also has his oldest son Raphael, 47, with his ex-wife Diahnne Abbott.

He also has twin sons Julian and Aaron, 28, who were welcomed by surrogate with model Toukie Smith, and also shares son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen, 12, with his ex-wife Grace Hightower.

De Niro also has four grandchildren, one of whom – 19-year-old Leandro De Niro Rodriguez – died last year with his death being ruled as combined drug intoxication involving fentanyl and cocaine.

Despite being older when he welcomed his youngest child, De Niro is loving new fatherhood just the same.

He told The Guardian about his take on parenting, adding: “It’s always good and mysterious and you don’t know what the hell is going to happen.”

De Niro added that while he is a hands-on dad, Chen tends to do the “heavy lifting” when it comes to looking after their baby girl.

Robert De Niro shares his youngest with Tiffany Chen. Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

He explained: “I’m there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work. And we have help, which is so important.”

The star also embraced having children of so many different generations, adding: “With a baby it’s different to with my 11-year-old. My adult children. My grandchildren. It’s all different.”

It sounds like Gia had a lovely first birthday!