Robert De Niro announced this week that he has welcomed his seventh child — aged 79.
The Oscar award-winner has not yet revealed the name of his child or the gender, nor shared the identity of the baby’s mother.
Yet, despite shocking the world of showbusiness by becoming a father again in his late 70s, the Godfather actor is not the oldest dad.
In fact, despite the average age of a father being 33 in the UK and 30 in the US, the oldest confirmed father — an Australian pensioner called Les Colley — was 92.
Although there is no maximum age for a man to become a father, it does come with some health risks, including risk of prematurity and low birth weight.
Here, MailOnline reveals the oldest dads in history.
Robert De Niro announced earlier this week that he has welcomed his seventh child at 79
James E. Smith
The oldest father ever could be over 100-years-old.
James E. Smith was a preacher from Illinois. He claimed to have a child in the US in January 1951 with his wife Anna Smith, 38, at 101 years old and 10 months.
But his age has been heavily disputed.
Although he claimed to be born in 1849, other records show he may have been 15 years younger than that.
James E. Smith was a preacher from Illinois. He claimed to have a child in the US in January 1951 with his wife Anna Smith, 38, at 101 years old and 10 months. here he is pictured with his wife and children on his 103rd birthday
That’s according to a newspaper article from Southern Illinoisan on April 8, 1959, which suggests previous marriage records and his application for an undertaker’s license would have made him around 86 and 10 months.
Ramjit Raghav
The second oldest man to father a child is reportedly Ramjit Raghav, from India.
He was 94 when his first-born son Karamjit was born in 2010.
But then in September 2012, at the age of 96, the pensioner and his wife Shakuntala, who was 54, welcomed another son, Ranjit.
Mr Raghav, who has been a farmer all is life, said after the birth of his second son, that it was ‘God’s wish’, adding: ‘He wanted me to have another son.’
However, there are no official records to prove that he was a father at 96.
Ramjit Raghav pictured at 96, with his wife Shankuntala, 54, and sons Karamjit, 4, and newborn Ranjit
Les Colley from Australia became a father to his ninth child at the age of 92 in 1991, pictured left, and Mahmoud al-Adam became a proud father to his 13th child at 92 in 2017, pictured right
Les Colley
The oldest confirmed father in the world is Les Colley from Australia, who was given the Guinness World Record for his feat.
The pensioner had his ninth child, a son named Oswald, to his third wife at the age of 92 years 10 months.
He met Oswald’s Fijian mother in 1991 through a dating agency, when he was 90.
Mr Colley lived a healthy and active life and died in 1998 from pneumonia, just four months before turning 100.
Mahmoud al-Adam
Mahmoud al-Adam became a proud father to his 13th child at 92 years, it was reported.
In 2017, the pensioner from the West Bank city of Hebron in Israel and his wife, 42-year-old Abeer, named their baby Tamara, according to the Times of Israel.
The newspaper reported that Abeer, who is deaf, married Abeer after his first wife passed away.
Spanish doctor Julio Iglesias Puga (died December 2005), father of famous singer Julio Iglesias, and his wife Ronna Keitt walking in Peniscola in 2002, pictured left and singer Julio Iglesias next to his sons Enrique and Julio Jose in Hawaii pictured right
Bernie Ecclestone pictured at 91 with baby Ace at 21 months, behind the wheel of a car at Interlagos Circuit
Julio Iglesias Sr.
The father of the veteran crooner and heart-throb Julio Iglesias suffered a fatal heart attack in 2005.
But just five days before his death it was revealed Julio Iglesias was set to become a father for the second time at the impressive age of 90.
Dr Iglesias was a gynaecologist and his American wife Ronna Keith was 42 and carrying the couple’s child when he died in a hospital near his home in Madrid, the Telegraph stated.
The 90-year-old father had a legendary reputation as a womaniser and he was nicknamed Papuchi, meaning little daddy in Spanish, the newspaper added.
He not only was the father to singer Julio Iglesias, he is also the grandfather to signers Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias Jr. and Chabeli Iglesias.
Bernie Ecclestone
Ex-Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone was 89 when he had his fourth child, Ace, in 2020.
This was the billionaire’s first child with Fabiana Flosi, who was 44 when she gave birth.
The racing tycoon previously had children in 1955, 1984, and 1988 daughters Tamara, 38, Petra, 34, and Deborah, 68 from previous marriages.
Deborah was born to his first wife Ivy Bamford before he welcomed socialites Tamara and Petra with his second wife Slavica Radić.
Speaking about being a father in 2022 he told the Sun: ‘Now I have more time on my hands and I hope I can spend it with my son as he grows up. I don’t know if we will stop here. Perhaps he should have a little brother or sister.’
