Robert De Niro celebrated his 80th birthday by gathering his celebrity friends for a lavish dinner party.

Robert De Niro celebrated turning 80 by throwing a lavish dinner for his famous friends

Robert De Niro celebrated turning 80 by throwing a lavish dinner for his famous friends

The 'Casino' star reached the milestone on Thursday (17.08.23) he hosted a bash at swanky Italian restaurant Locanda Verde in New York City for friends including Sir Paul McCartney - who attended with his wife Nancy Shevell - as well as fellow actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Uma Thurman and De Niro's 'The Godfather Part II' director Francis Ford Coppola.

'Star Wars' creator George Lucas also attended the bash along with director Martin Scorsese, movie veterans Bette Midler and Christopher Walken as well as former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, civil rights activist Al Sharpton, illusionist David Blaine and Alec Baldwin with his wife Hilaria.

De Niro was joined by his girlfriend Tiffany Chen and their baby daughter Gia - the actor's seventh child - who was born in April.

Earlier in the day, the actor's adopted daughter Drena De Niro shared a sweet tribute to him on Instagram. She reposted a portrait of De Niro shared by actress Debi Mazar and wrote: "Happy 80 you know who!"

It comes after a tough few weeks for the actor and his daughter following the death of Drena's 19-year-old son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez in July.

De Niro's grandson was found dead at his apartment in New York City on 2 July and autopsy results showed the teenager had a number of illegal substances in his system when he passed away. The New York City Medical Examiner told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column Leandro had fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine in his system at the time of his death, which has been ruled an accident.

After the tragedy, Drena - who was adopted by the actor during his marriage to her mother Diahnne Abbott - mourned the loss in an emotional post on Instagram. She wrote: "My beautiful sweet angel. I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly. “You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you. “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 . You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you. I’m so sorry my baby.”