Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was found dead in a New York apartment.
ADVERTISEMENTLeandro De Niro Rodriguez, one of American actor Robert De Niro’s grandsons, has died aged 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’ll try to go on and spread the love and light that you so made me feel in getting to be your mama,” she wrote. “You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you.”
Leandro’s father, the artist Carlos Mare, posted a black square without a caption on his Instagram account. He later shared another post with a picture of him and Leandro as a child. “Thank you for your messages of support. @drenadeniro and our families are grateful. 🦁You can’t spell Love without Leo,” he wrote.
“I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo,” Robert De Niro said in a statement.
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 was pronounced deceased by EMS on scene” at a Wall Street address that houses the Cipriani Club Residences. Leandro only recently turned 19, news outlets report.
The medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death.
Drena De Niro, 51, is the oldest of Robert De Niro's now seven children (the 79-year-old welcomed a baby earlier this year). The actor adopted her when he married her mother, Diahnne Abbott, his first wife. Drena De Niro is also an actor, 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 also featuring his mother: 2005's The Collection, and 2018's Cabaret Maxime and A Star Is Born. In Bradley Cooper's remake, the mother and son played mother and son — wife and child to Dave Chappelle's character.
